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TREASON    AND    PLOT 


Treason 


AND  Plot 


STRUGGLES  FOR    j»*    jr 
CATHOLIC  SUPREMACY 

IN   THE    LAST    YEARS    OF 
QUEEN  ELIZABETH    J9^ 


BY 


MARTIN    A.  S.   HUME 

EDITOR   OF  THE   CALENDARS   OF   SPANISH  STATE   PAPERS 
(public    RECORD   OFFICE) 


^ 


NEW   YORK 

D.    APPLETON    o-    COMPANY 
1901 


Printed  by 

Ballantyne,  Hanson  6*  Co. 

Edinburgh 


HSNRY  MORSE  STEPHEKa 


TO 

THE  MANY  UNKNOWN    FRIENDS  IN  ENGLAND 

AND  AMERICA  WHOSE  WELCOME  LETTERS 

OF   APPROVAL   HAVE    SWEETENED    MY 

LABOURS  IN  A  GRUDGING  AND 

TOILSOME  FIELD 

MARTIN  A.  S.  HUME. 


PREFACE 

The  adoption  of  the  Reformation  by  England  was 
an  event  which  did  not  alone  concern  the  nation 
itself,  but  threw  out  of  balance  the  whole  edifice 
of  European  power,  built  upon  traditional  alliances 
and  international  policies  that  had  survived  for 
centuries.  However  much  it  may  have  suited  the 
temporal  ends  of  Spanish  monarchs  to  incite  their 
subjects  to  religious  exaltation,  it  was  not  crusading- 
zeal  rx  spiritual  fervour  which  impelled  them  for  half 
a  century  to  lavish  the  blood  and  substance  of  their 
countries,  and  to  exhaust  every  expedient,  from 
marriage  to  murder,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
England  back  to  the  Catholic  fold,  A  Protestant 
England  and  a  divided  Germany  inevitably  meant 
the  decadence  and  final  ruin  of  the  great  Spanish 
empire  which  the  "  Catholic  sovereigns  "  had  reared 
upon  a  base  of  bigotry. 

Without  a  close  alliance  with  England,  and  the 
certainty  of  efficient  support  from  Germany,  Spain 
found  herself  with  a  jealous  rival,  France,  on  each 
flank.  On  the  one  hand,  her  dominions  in  Italy, 
only  held  by  the  right  of  the  sword,  would  sooner 
or  later  be  lost  to  her ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
Flanders    and    Holland,    shut    off   by    land    if   the 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


Italian  dominion  passed  away,  could  not  be  reached 
from  Spain  even  by  water,  unless  England  held  the 
Channel  and  England  were  friendly. 

When  the  spread  of  the  Reformed  doctrines  in 
Holland  drove  the  Burghers  to  shake  off  the  yoke 
of  intolerant  Spain,  and  Protestant  England,  for  her 
own  national  safety,  found  it  necessary  to  aid  the 
insurgents,  it  became  no  longer  a  matter  of  future 
policy,  but  of  vital  and  immediate  necessity,  for 
Philip  II.  to  persuade  or  force  England  into  alliance 
or  benevolent  neutrality.  The  need  was  still  further 
increased  when  the  Huguenot  power  in  France  bade 
fair  to  overcome  the  Catholic  supremacy  there,  and 
thus  to  leave  Spain  isolated  without  the  possibility  of 
alliance  either  with  England  or  France  :  for  it  must 
be  remembered  that  Spain  could  not  afford  to  deal 
on  equal  terms  with  a  Protestant  power,  because 
the  admission  of  any  question  as  to  the  supremacy 
of  the  Church,  in  all  its  rigidity,  would  have  struck 
at  the  power  by  which  Spain  held  together  her 
mixed  and  recently  reconciled  populations,  and  have 
invalidated  the  exclusive  right  she  claimed  over  the 
whole  of  the  New  World.  It  was,  therefore,  a  matter 
of  national  life  or  death  for  her  that  England,  by 
some  means,  should  be  made  Catholic. 
[  On  the  other  hand,  the  circumstances  which  sur- 
rounded the  birth  and  accession  of  Elizabeth  were 
such  that  an  acknowledgment  on  her  part  of  the 
Papal  supremacy  would  have  branded  her  as  a 
bastard,  and  would  have  deprived  her  of  her  here- 


PREFACE  ix 

ditary  right  to  rule.  Whilst  this  was  the  case  with 
her,  there  is  no  doubt  that  her  personal  leanings 
were  to  a  great  extent  in  favour  of  a  ceremonious 
form  of  worship,  and  of  the  authority  and  dignity 
which  belonged  to  the  ancient  Church ;  and  it  was 
equally  important  for  England  as  it  was  for  Spain 
to  prevent  the  Flemish  dominions  of  the  latter 
power  from  ever  falling  into  the  hands  of  France. 
It  will  be  understood,  therefore,  that,  although 
the  religious  problems  between  England  and  Spain 
were  opposed  and  irreconcilable,  their  national 
and  traditional  interests  still  to  a  great  extent 
coincided  ;  and  it  was  this  latter  circumstance  which 
enabled  Elizabeth  and  Lord  Burghley,  through  a 
long  series  of  years,  to  play  their  consummate 
game  of  balance  and  chicanery,  which  paralysed 
Spain  for  harm,  whilst  England  was  growing  in 
potency  and  wealth. 

The  imminence  of  the  succession  of  a  Huguenot 
to  the  throne  of  France,  which  threatened  an 
approximation  of  French  religious  interests  with 
those  of  England,  at  length  compelled  Philip  to 
abandon  a  temporising  policy  with  Elizabeth.  If 
he  could  not  force  England  to  be  Catholic  before 
Henry  of  Navarre  ruled  France  as  a  Protestant  and 
made  common  cause  with  Elizabeth,  then  indeed 
had  the  star  of  Spanish  power  sunk  to  rise  no 
more.  But,  as  was  usual  with  all  his  resolutions 
of  action,  Philip  adopted  his  policy  too  late ;  and 
the  defeat  of  the  Armada  exhibited  to  a  scoffing  and 


X  PREFACE 

envious  world  a  nation  already  in  decadence,  not  only 
in  material  strength,  but  in  the  moral  forces  which  had 
previously  been  the  principal  secret  of  her  success. 

But  though  her  iVrmada  was  defeated  and  Spain 
was  riddled  with  corruption,  her  national  necessity 
to  make  England  sufficiently  Catholic  to  be  a  fit 
ally  for  her  ends  remained  unchanged.  Her  dreams 
of  greatness,  moreover,  continued  to  loom  large  in 
her  uneasy  slumbers  long  after  the  decay  of  her 
potency  had  set  in.  The  Catholic  interests  in 
England  were  many,  and,  for  a  multitude  of  reasons, 
devotional,  sentimental,  and  mundane,  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  people  would  have  welcomed 
the  return  of  a  Catholic  dispensation.  But  the  long 
years  of  antagonism  and  informal  warfare  which 
the  circumstances  just  mentioned  had  produced 
between  England  and  Spain,  had  before  the  last  de- 
cade of  Elizabeth's  reign  given  birth  to  a  new  pride 
of  country  in  the  breasts  of  most  Englishmen,  and 
a  determination  that  a  people  who  had  shown  their 
inability  even  to  hold  their  own  against  England 
on  the  sea  should  not  gain  dominion  over  the  land 
by  means  of  religion  or  otherwise.  It  was  this 
new  patriotism  that  divided  the  Catholic  forces 
in  England,  and  the  knowledge,  then  general,  of 
Spain's  selfish  objects  that  divided  them  abroad ; 
and,  as  a  consequence  of  the  changed  position,  the 
struggles  to  impose  Catholic  supremacy  upon  Eng- 
land that  followed  the  catastrophe  of  the  Armada 
differed  entirely  from  those  that  preceded  it. 


PREFACE  xi 

The  story  of  these  struggles  up  to  1588  has  been 
told  fully  by  Froude  and  many  other  historians ; 
but  it  has  usually  been  assumed  that  with  the 
defeat  of  the  Armada  the  strenuous  attempts  to 
bring  England  again  into  the  circle  of  the  lloman 
Catholic  Church  and  to  a  close  alliance  with  Spain 
came  to  an  end.  That  this  was  far  from  being 
the  case  will  be  admitted  by  those  who  honour 
me  by  reading  these  pages,  in  which  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  set  forth,  as  fully  as  the  limits  of 
one  volume  would  permit,  the  continuous  efforts 
made  by  the  various  Catholic  elements,  English 
and  foreign,  to  establish  the  supremacy  of  their  faith 
in  England  from  1593  to  the  accession  of  James 
in  1605;  which  latter  date  marks  the  final  extinc- 
tion of  their  hopes. 

Much  of  the  material  from  which  the  story  is 
written  is  now  used  for  the  purpose  for  the  first 
time,  especially  the  Spanish  MSS.  transcribed  by  the 
present  writer  at  Simancas,  and  abstracted  in  the 
last  volume  of  the  Spanish  Calendar  of  Elizabeth. 
I  have  also  drawn  upon  the  calendared  and  un- 
calendared  Irish  State  papers,  the  latest  volume  of 
the  Venetian  papers,  the  Hatfield  papers,  calen- 
dared and  uncalendared  ;  and,  for  the  story  of  the 
Lopez  conspiracy,  1  have  been  permitted  to  make 
abstracts  of  some  interesting  manuscripts  in  the 
possession  of  Lord  Calthorpe,  and  also  some  un- 
published papers  in  the  Archives  Nationales,  Paris. 
I  have  endeavoured  to  set  forth  the  historical  facts 


xii  PREFACE 

in  all  simplicity,  and  with  absolute  detachment  so 
far  as  regards  their  religious  aspect ;  and  in  every 
case  where  I  have  ventured  to  draw  a  deduction 
of  any  sort,  the  evidence  upon  which  I  have  de- 
pended is  placed  before  the  reader,  in  order  that 
he  may  judge  for  himself  how  far  my  conclusions 
are  justified.  This  book  does  not  claim  to  be  a 
contribution,  however  small,  to  religious  contro- 
versy, but  is  a  diligent  attempt  to  add  something 
to  the  knowledge  of  historical  fact,  and  to  set 
forth,  by  the  light  of  modern  research,  one  phase 
of  the  important  last  ten  years  of  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth ;  a  decade  which,  for  various  reasons, 
has  been  inadequately  treated  by  recent  English 
historians. 

MARTIN  A.  S.  HUME. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 


I'AGE 


Change  in  the  European  situation   caused  by  the  defeat  of  the 

Armada — The  Jesuits  and  the  English  Mission — The  unmask-    ^  4i[  ^ 
ing   of   Philip's   designs  —  The   influence   of   England's  new       " 
maritime   strength  —  Spain's   renewed    preparations   for   the 
struggle I 


CHAPTER  II 

Intrigues  of  the  Scottish  Catholics  with  Spain — James's  share  in 
them — The  "Spanish  blanks" — The  Parliament  of  1593 — 
Fears  of  a  new  Spanish  invasion — John  Cecil's  mission  from 
Scotland  to  Spain — The  influence  of  Father  Persons — The 
Spanish  mission  to  the  Scottish  Catholic  Lords — John  Cecil's 
betrayal  of  the  cause        .         .         .        .         .        .         .         .23 


CHAPTER  III 

Appeal  to  Spain  of  the  Irish  Catholics — Meeting  of  the  Chiefs  in 
Donegal — The  Archbishop  of  Tuam's  mission  to  Spain — James 
sends  another  envoy  to  Spain — The  battle  of  Glenlivat — 
Walter  Lindsay  in  Madrid  —  Suppression  of  the  Catholic 
Ijords  in  Scotland — Their  renewed  appeal  to  Philip — Its 
failure,  and  the  reason  for  it    .         .         ,         .         .         .         -So 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  condition  of  the  Catholics  in  England — Disagreement  between 
the  Jesuits  and  Seculars — Party  politics  in  the  English  Court 
— Real  and  pretended  plots  against  the  Queen — Father  Young's 
confessions — The   irreconcilable  English  refugees — The  con- 


xiv  CONTENTS 


fessions  of  Webster — -Polwhele's  and  Collen'a  plots — Daniel's 
and  Cahill's  confessions — Arrest  of  Father  Henry  Walpole — 
The  doubtful  evidence  in  support  of  most  of  the  so-called 
plots 80 


CHAPTER  y 

The  conspiracy  of  Dr.  Lopez — The  confessions  of  Yorke  and 
Williams — The  alleged  connection  of  the  Spanish  Ministers 
with  the  murder  plots 115 

Appendix  to  Chapter  V 162 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  complete  separation  of  the  two  sections  of  English  Catholics 
— Alarm  in  England  at  the  Spanish  armaments — Drake's  last 
voyage — Tyrone's  declaration — Promise  of  Spanish  aid — Irish 
emissaries  to  Spain  —  The  expeditions  of  Captains  Cobos, 
Medinilla,  and  Cisneros  to  Ireland — Their  description  of  Ire- 
land— Breakdown  of  the  Spanish  Administration — Essex's 
attack  upon  Cadiz    . 165 


CHAPTER  VII 

Mission  of  Lindsay  to  Eome — Father  John  Cecil  and  Pury  Ogilvie 
in  Rome — Their  voyage  to  Spain — Address  of  the  English 
Catholic  irreconcilables  to  Philip — The  advice  of  Father  Per- 
sons —  Preparations  in  Lisbon  for  the  Irish  expedition — 
Strength  of  the  armament — Failure  and  return  to  Spain — 
Meeting  of  the  Irish  chiefs  with  Cobos  in  the  Monastery  of 
Donegal — A  new  truce  with  Tyrone 201 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Fears  of  a  Spanish  invasion  of  England — English  preparations — 
Essex's  voyage — Lopez  de  Soto's  letters — Strength  of  the  Ade- 
lantado's  fleet  (1597) — ^Its  inglorious  return  to  Spain — Re- 
newed appeal  of  the  Irish  rebels  to  Spain — Tyrone's  discontent 
with  the  Spaniards — Another  truce  with  Tyrone    .        .         .  242 


CONTENTS  XV 


CHAPTER  IX 

PAGE 

The  two  sections  of  English  Catholics  and  the  succession — Arabella 
Stuart  versus  the  Infanta — Lord  Beauchanip — Party  conflicts 
in  England  with  regard  to  the  peace  with  Spain — The  aims  of 
the  Jesuits — Paralysis  of  the  Spanish  naval  administration — 
Renewed  alarm  in  England — Its  groundlessness — Parleys  with 
Tyrone^His  renewed  appeals  to  Spain — Critical  condition  of 
the  English  rule  in  Ireland — The  battle  of  Armagh         .         .271 


CHAPTER  X 

Letters  of  John  Colville — James  intrigues  with  the  Catholic  Powers 
— The  "  Wisbech  Stirs  " — Recriminations  against  the  Jesuit 
faction — The  murder  j)lot  of  Squire  and  Rolls — Father  Wal- 
pole's  connection  with  it  —  The  desire  of  the  Archduke  for 
peace  with  England — Successes  of  the  Irish  rebels — Discontent 
of  Essex — His  government  in  Ireland — The  march  through 
Munster — His  parley  with  Tyrone — His  disobedience  and  re- 
turn to  England — His  arrest 


CHAPTER  XI 

The  aspect  of  the  succession  question  in  England — Cecil  and  Essex 
— Negotiations  for  peace  with  Spain  —  Renewed  alarm  of 
Spanish  invasion  in  England — Measures  for  defence — Pro- 
bable intentional  exaggeration  of  the  fears  for  political  reasons 
— James  continues  to  intrigue  with  the  Catholics  for  support 
— The  Pope's  offer  to  him — Fitzherbert's  address  to  Philip  re- 
specting the  Scottish  advances — Lord  Semple's  mission  to 
Madrid — The  future  religion  of  England  trembling  in  the 
balance 361 


CHAPTER   XII 

Essex  in  disgrace — His  attempts  at  reconciliation — Small  Spanish 
help  to  the  Irish  rebels — The  mission  of  Mateo  de  Oviedo, 
Archbishoi)  of  Dublin,  and  Martin  de  la  Cerda  to  Ireland — 
Resolution  in  Spain  to  aid  Tyrone  actively — Irish  envoys  to 
Spain — Helplessness  of  Philip  and  discouragement  of  Tyrone 


xvi  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


— Father  Persons'  appeals  to  Philip  to  take  a  decided  course 
on  the  English  succession — Discussions  in  the  Council  of 
State  on  the  subject — Father  Creswell's  efforts  in  Madrid — 
The  projects  of  the  Earl  of  Bothwell — Essex  and  James.  Abor- 
tive peace  negotiations  with  Spain — Essex's  rebellion  and 
execution 39^ 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  change  in  the  succession  question  in  consequence  of  the  death 
of  Essex — The  secret  understanding  between  James  and  Cecil 
— James's  new  attitude  towards  the  Catholics — Lord  Montjoy 
in  Ireland — Occupation  of  Derry— Disappointment  of  Tyrone 
and  0'i-)onnell  with  Spain — La  Cerda's  mission  to  Ireland — 
Preparations  for  a  new  Spanish  expedition  to  Ireland — Carew 
in  Munster — Sailing  of  the  expedition — O'Sullivan  Beare — 
The  Spaniards  in  Kinsale — The  siege — The  Spaniards  isolated 
in  Kinsale,  Castlehaven,  Dunboy,  and  Baltimore — Defeat  of 
Tyrone — Capitulation  of  Kinsale — The  O'Sullivans  and  Dun- 
boy — O'Donnell  in  Spain — Death  of  O'Donnell — Exodus  of 
the  O'Sullivans,  pardon  of  Tyrone,  and  the  pacification  of 
Ireland 43^ 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Mission  of  Thomas  James  to  Spain — The  policy  of  Philip  III.  to- 
wards the  English  succession — Discussion  in  the  Council  of 
State — The  new  policy  adopted  too  late — Cecil's  conduct — 
Dynastic  intrigues  in  England — Arabella  Stuart's  strange 
behaviour  —  Suggested  explanation  —  Lord  Beauchamp  — 
Attempted  flight  of  Arabella— Death  of  Elizabeth — Cecil 
triumphant — Extinction  of  the  last  hope  of  establishing 
Catholic  supremacy  by  means  of  foreign  intervention .         .478 


INDEX 511 


TREASON    AND    PLOT 


CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTORY 

Change  in  the  European  situation  caused  by  the  defeat  of  the  Armada 
—  The  Jesuits  and  the  English  Mission  —  The  unmasking  of 
Philip's  designs  —  The  influence  of  England's  new  maritime 
strength — Spain's  renewed  preparations  for  the  struggle. 

With  the  flight  of  the  great  Armada,  beaten  and 
demoralised,  into  the  wild  equinoctial  gales  of  the 
northern  seas,  the  political  and  religious  problems 
of  Europe  underwent  a  change,  which,  like  most 
far-reaching  changes,  was  only  very  gradually  and 
imperfectly  realised  by  those  immediately  concerned. 
For  a  hundred  years  Spain  had  imposed  herself  upon 
the  world  to  an  extent  entirely  unwarranted  by  her 
native  resources  and  the  numbers  of  her  population : 
she  had  discovered,  subjected,  and  organised  a  vast 
continent :  the  commercial  and  mineral  wealth  of 
both  East  and  West  had  been  proclaimed  as  her 
monopoly ;  and  throughout  the  world  her  arrogant 
claim  to  superiority,  and  to  the  leadership  of 
orthodox  Christianity,  had  been  humbly  conceded 
by  all  but  a  few  who  were  regarded  as  little  better 
than  blasphemers  for  their  denial  of  Spanish 
supremacy. 

A 


2/-. ';:'/!  C:.;  '.TREASON   AND    PLOT 

What  was  the  secret  that  had  carried  this  bundle 
of  antagonistic  racial  and  political  units,  only 
nominally  a  nation,  irresistibly  through  Europe 
and  America,  and  had  in  one  leap  raised  Castile 
to  the  first  place  amidst  the  powers  of  the  world  ? 
Not  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  alone ;  for,  thanks  to 
a  vicious  fiscal  system,  the  gold  and  silver  of  the 
mines  enriched  every  nation  of  the  earth  more  than 
they  did  Spain.  Not  natural  gifts  of  energy,  intellect, 
or  valour  ;  for  these  were  not  specially  conspicuous  in 
the  Spanish  people  either  before  or  after  the  fleeting 
period  of  their  country's  greatness.  Not  the  impetus 
of  a  united  nationality  stirred  to  patriotic  ambition 
by  the  consciousness  of  strength  derived  from  com- 
munity of  soil,  race,  and  institutions ;  for  such  a 
feeling  could  have  no  place  amongst  peoples  varying 
in  origin,  tongue,  traditions,  and  national  history, 
who  were  loosely  bound  together  with  the  monarch 
for  their  only  tie. 

The  cause  of  Spain's  sudden  greatness,  as  of  her 
inevitable  fall,  must  be  discovered  in  the  circum- 
stances of  her  unification.  Unity  of  some  sort  was 
vitally  necessary  if  the  ambitions  of  her  successive 
rulers  were  to  be  fulfilled ;  and,  failing  the  slow 
process  of  racial  amalgamation,  for  which  they  could 
not  wait,  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  and  his  immediate 
successors  deliberately  forged  in  the  fires  of  the 
Inquisition  the  weapon  with  which  they  were  to 
conquer  half  the  world.  The  Spanish  nation  was 
bound  together  by  the  spiritual  exaltation  which 
came  of  the  religious  persecution  of  the  minority 
by  the  majority.  The  Inquisition  was  popular, 
powerful,  and  revered  by  Spaniards  at  large,  because 


INTRODUCTORY  3 

it  flattered  their  pride  with  the  idea  that  their  faith 
alone  had  divine  sanction,  and  that  God  had  en- 
dowed them  with  the  exclusive  right  of  imposing 
that  faith  upon  the  rest  of  the  world.  They  were 
a  chosen  people,  spiritually  superior  to  others  ;  and 
in  the  sacred  cause  for  which  they  were  specially 
ordained  to  fight,  cruelty,  rapine,  and  blood  were 
praiseworthy  and  gracious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord. 
Mystic  fervour  and  a  belief  in  their  mission  to 
exterminate,  at  any  cost,  those  who  had  strayed 
into  the  service  of  the  devil,  gave  to  Spaniards  in 
the  sixteenth  century  the  unity  necessary  for  their 
rulers  to  use  them  as  a  solid  weapon  for  mundane 
ends.  Much  as  the}^  might  hate  each  other  nation- 
ally, they  were  all  knit  together  in  the  fierce  assur- 
ance that  they  were  a  divinely  favoured  people  with 
a  mission.  This  was  the  spirit  which  explained 
their  burning  enthusiasm  and  carried  the  ferocious 
men-at-arms  of  Charles  and  Philip  victorious  through 
the  world.  Their  fervour  and  confidence  dazzled 
the  eyes  of  other  nations  to  the  weakness  of 
material  resource  which  lay  behind  their  haughty, 
cool  assumption  of  unquestionable  superiority. 
Such  claims  would  have  been  resented  generally, 
as  they  were  by  a  few  in  England,  but  for  the 
absolute  conviction  of  every  individual  Spaniard 
that  he  was  on  the  side  of  God ;  and  that,  as  a 
consequence  of  this  solidarity,  all  other  men  were 
as  mire  beneath  his  feet.  The  moral  effect  of  such 
a  conviction  was  incalculable. 

The  first  staggering  blow  dealt  at  this  source  of 
power  fell  upon  Spanish  hearts  with  the  defeat  of 
the   Armada.       All    that    spiritual    superstition,    all 


4  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

that  frantic  devotion  could  do  for  the  supposed 
invincible  fleet  had  been  done.  Prayers  for  its 
success  had  been  offered  up  by  millions ;  sacred 
relics  and  bones  of  saints  enough  to  stock  a 
cemetery  had  been  carried  forth  in  processions 
innumerable  ;  Pope  and  cardinals  had  blessed  and 
sprinkled  ;  kings,  princes,  and  peoples  had  fasted 
and  sacrificed  ;  all  Spain  and  Portugal  were  aflame 
with  religious  exaltation  and  the  positive  assurance 
of  an  easy  victory  over  God's  enemies.  For  such  an 
expedition  on  such  an  errand  defeat  was  surely  im- 
possible, and  in  that  firm  belief  the  soldiers,  at 
least,  on  the  fleet  went  forth  to  liberate  a  yearn- 
ing people  held  captive  by  a  small  minority  of 
heretics. 

But  even  as  the  Armada,  under  its  craven  admiral, 
hustled  powerlessly  up  the  Channel  in  the  six  days' 
running  fight  with  foes  that  eluded  and  harassed 
it,  the  first  sinister  cry  went  up  from  hearts  already 
disillusioned  and  well-nigh  broken:  ''God  has 
forsaken  us;"  and  when  the  battered  wrecks  of 
the  ships  that  were  left  of  the  panic-stricken  fleet 
slowly  crept  back  to  Santander  with  the  few  famished 
and  plague-stricken  survivors  of  their  gallant  com- 
panies, the  loss  of  material  power,  great  as  it  was, 
that  the  country  had  suffered,  was  the  smallest  part 
of  the  disaster.  For  the  conviction  of  divine  aid, 
the  certainty  of  being  on  the  right  side,  which  had 
been  the  secret  of  Spain's  strength  for  a  hundred 
years,  was  wounded  now  beyond  surgery,  and 
Spaniards,  if  they  fought  at  all,  must  in  future 
fight  on  an  equality  with  the  rest  of  mankind  with 
worldly  weapons  and  skill. 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

The  disillusionment  came  home  but  slowly  to  the 
mass  of  the  Spanish  people.  The  first  wail  of 
sorrow  that  went  up  was  mingled  with  a  cry  for 
vindication  and  revenge.  The  towns  of  Spain,  one 
after  the  other,  offered  new  contributions,  ruined 
and  desolate  as  the  country  was,  in  order  that  a 
more  powerful  expedition  than  before  should  at 
once  be  fitted  out  under  other  commanders  and 
teach  a  lasting  lesson  to  the  insolent  heretic,  before 
whom  Medina  Sidonia  had  fled  helplessly.  But  as 
the  winter  wore  on,  and  the  extent  of  the  catastrophe 
was  better  understood,  the  gloom  darkened.  One 
of  Philip's  own  confessors  boldly  told  him,  that 
"though  his  prayers  and  processions  were  very  good 
things,  yet  it  was  certain  that  God  gave  ear  to  other 
voices  before  his,"  ^  and  all  prayers  on  account  of 
the  Armada  were  publicly  ordered  to  be  discontinued 
(22nd  October).  "The  better  informed,"  we  are 
told,  "  begin  to  think  that  if  all  these  ships  are 
lost  it  will  be  impossible  to  make  another  expedi- 
tion next  year"  (22nd  October).  And  so  with 
dismay  the  Spanish  people  gradually  realised — as 
their  king  had  done  from  the  first — that  they  them- 
selves were  in  danger  of  attack,  and  that,  far  from 
thinking  of  inflicting  punishment  upon  England, 
they  must  strain  every  nerve  first  to  defend  their 
own  coasts  and  commerce  from  devastation.  "  If 
Drake  should  take  the  sea,"  wrote  the  Venetian 
ambassador,  "  and  meet  the  Peruvian  fleet  or  make 
a  descent  on  the  shores  of  Spain,  he  would  find  no 
obstacle  to  his  depredations,  and  he  might  even 
burn  a  part  of  the  ships  that  have  come  back,  for 

1  Lippomano  to  the  Doge,  October  i,  1589.     Venetian  Papers. 


6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

they  are  lying  scattered  without  troops  to  guard 
them,  as  all  the  soldiers  reach  home  sick  and  in 
the  bad  plight  I  have  reported."  ^ 

"  If  Drake  were  to  go  to  the  Azores  now,"  wrote 
the  same  authority,  "he  would  not  only  ruin  the 
whole  of  the  Indian  trade,  but  could  quite  easily 
make  himself  master  of  the  islands." "  Philip  put 
as  brave  a  face  upon  it  as  he  could,  and  talked 
about  selling  his  silver  candlesticks  to  arm  for  an 
attack  upon  England ;  but  he  knew  full  well  now 
that  before  he  could  hope  to  prevail  over  his  foe 
he  must  learn  the  lesson  to  which  he  had  been 
deaf  for  years,  and  must  face  the  English  with 
ships  as  mobile  and  sailors  as  skilful  as  their 
own.  For,  thanks  to  Drake  and  his  school,  the 
ship  was  henceforth  a  fighting  entity  of  itself,  not 
only  a  machine  for  carrying  fighters  into  the  fray. 
A  new  maritime  power  indeed  was  born  of  the 
knowledge.  England  had  the  start,  and  only  by 
patient  work  and  slow  degrees  could  Spain  hope  to 
change  her  material  and  tactics  to  meet  the  new 
departure. 

With  his  laborious  stolidity  Philip  turned  his 
hand  to  the  creation  of  a  new  navy.  He  was 
desperately  impecunious  ;  the  Pope  had  scornfully 
refused  the  subsidy  he  had  promised  to  the  Armada, 
and  the  Cortes,  failing  to  understand  the  need  for 
the  laying  down  of  the  new  ships,  of  which  the 
construction  would  occupy  years,  haggled  over  their 
voluntary  subsidy.  But  to  Drake  and  the  English 
seamen,  at  least,  the  position  was  as  clear  as  it  was 

1  Lippomano  to  the  Doge,  October  22.     Venetian  Calendar. 
^  Ibid.,  December  8. 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

to  Philip  :  Spain  was  no  match  for  England  upon 
the  sea  until  her  ships  and  tactics  were  radically 
altered.  It  was  seen  that  religious  exaltation  and  a 
belief  in  a  monopoly  of  divine  protection,  however 
good  in  their  way  as  aids,  were  bad  substitutes 
for  the  ordinary  mundane  precautions  for  securing 
victory.  Thenceforward,  therefore,  the  material 
aspect  of  the  attempt  of  Philip  to  impose  Catholi- 
cism upon  England  by  force  of  arms  assumed  an 
entirely  new  condition,  and  for  years  to  come  Spain 
was  forced  to  stand  upon  the  defensive  to  save  her 
world-wide  commerce  from  utter  destruction.  A 
direct  attack  upon  England  itself  was  out  of  the 
question. 

The  altered  conditions  of  warfare  springing  from 
the  defeat  of  the  Armada  almost  coincided  in  point 
of  time  with  a  political  event  of  still  greater  mag- 
nitude, namely,  the  discovery  of  Philip's  real  aims. 
Long  before  the  rulers  of  Spain  had  dreamt  of 
raising  a  vast  empire  on  a  basis  of  religious  bigotry, 
it  had  been  an  article  of  faith  that  a  close  alliance 
was  necessary,  in  the  interests  of  both  parties,  be- 
tween England  and  the  possessor  of  the  Flemish 
seaboard ;  and  when  the  crowns  of  Castile  and 
Aragon  passed  to  the  House  of  Austria-Burgundy, 
this  vital  necessity  passed  with  it.  Spain  with  a 
friendly  England  could  always  hope  to  hold  France 
in  check ;  but  with  England  against  her,  and  in 
close  union  with  France,  Spain's  main  road  to 
Flanders  was  closed  ;  and  France,  free  from  suspi- 
cion of  her  neighbour  across  the  Channel,  was  able  to 
oppose  the  objects  of  Aragon  in  the  Mediterranean 
and  Italy.     This  had  been  the  reason  that  Charles  V., 


8  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

champion  of  Catholicism  though  he  was,  had  not 
dared  to  quarrel  with  Henry  VIII.  or  Edward  VI., 
notwithstanding  the  Protestant  reformation  and  the 
repudiation  by  Henry  of  his  lawful  Spanish  wife. 
This  was  the  reason  for  Philip's  marriage  with  his 
elderly  and  unprepossessing  cousin,  Mary  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  this  was  the  reason  why  the  Catholic 
King  for  thirty  years  left  no  stone  unturned  to  win 
without  war  Elizabeth  and  England  to  the  Catho- 
lic side,  or  at  least  to  neutrality.  In  vain  had  his  hot- 
headed councillors  alternately  prayed  and  hectored 
at  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  urged  that 
the  Catholic  majority  in  England  should  be  aided 
to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  heretic  Queen.  In  vain 
did  ambassador  after  ambassador  try  to  force  the 
King's  hands  by  fomenting  treason  in  England  and 
openly  advocating  war.  Philip  knew  better  than 
they  that  he  dared  not  openly  break  with  Elizabeth 
whilst  jealous  France  was  on  his  flank  and  his  own 
Netherlands  were  in  full  revolt  against  him.  So  he 
had  meekly  to  see  his  commerce  ruined,  his  treasure 
stolen,  his  subjects  hanged  by  English  pirates,  and 
his  coasts  and  colonies  violated  for  thirty  years 
before  he  decided  to  risk  everything  on  the  issue 
of  an  invasion.  Religion  was  his  stalking-horse, 
and  an  effective  one ;  but  he  would  never  have 
gone  to  war  with  England  on  religious  grounds  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  making  her  Catholic.  It  was 
necessary  for  him  that  she  should  be  Catholic 
because  he  needed  her  friendship  and  a  cessation 
of  her  aid  to  the  Protestant  Netherlanders ;  and 
when  it  became  evident,  even  to  his  slow  mind, 
that,  for  all  her  dexterous  balancing  and  religious 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

coquetry,  Elizabeth  meant  to  stand  permanently  to 
the  Reformed  doctrines  and  her  own  supremacy,  he 
was  forced  to  fight  or  to  throw  up  the  sponge.  Philip, 
both  from  character  and  on  principle,  loved  to  work 
in  the  darkness ;  and  it  was  the  first  condition  of 
success  in  the  use  of  his  religious  instrument  that 
his  agents  should  not  be  aware  of  the  political 
objects  he  had  ultimately  in  view.  During  all  the 
years  they  had  paltered  with  treason  and  murder  in 
England  they  had  chafed  and  marvelled  at  their 
master's  cold  irresponsiveness  to  their  activity.  With 
hardly  an  effort  in  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's 
reign  he  might  have  turned  the  scale,  and  have 
made  England  at  least  as  Catholic  as  Henry  VIII. 
left  it  when  he  died.  What  his  agents  failed  to 
understand  was,  that  whilst  it  was  desirable  for 
Philip  that  England  should  be  sufficiently  Catholic 
to  be  friendly  with  him  and  to  refrain  from  helping 
his  discontented  subjects,  it  was  infinitely  better 
for  his  ends  that  she  should  remain  heretic  and 
neutral  than  that  she  should  become  Catholic  and 
French;  for  if  Elizabeth  fell,  the  next  heiress  to 
the  English  crown  was  Mary  Stuart,  practically  a 
French  princess  under  the  control  of  ambitious  and 
capable  kinsmen  of  the  same  nation.  So  for  years 
before  he  struck  his  blow  the  King's  crafty  intri- 
gues went  on  to  make  Mary  Stuart  a  subservient 
tool,  and  to  pledge  and  subsidise  the  Guises  for 
the  promotion  of  their  ambitions  in  France,  in  order 
that  they  might  not  interfere  with  Spanish  aims  in 
England. 

During    the    period    that  Mary   was    captive    the 
religious  position  in  England  underwent  a  complete 


lo  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

change,  and  at  the  time  of  her  death  the  contending 
elements  on  both  sides  were  finally  ranged.  The 
mass  of  the  English  people,  except  in  London  and 
the  eastern  counties,  were  Catholics ;  but  the  doc- 
trines and  practice  of  the  Romish  Church  had 
remained  more  or  less  in  a  fluid  state  until  the 
publication  of  the  Trentine  decrees  in  1564.  The 
cautious  compromise  devised  by  Elizabeth  and  Cecil 
had  conciliated  many,  and  for  the  first  few  years  of 
the  reign  the  population  at  large,  although  they 
might  regret  the  avowedly  papal  i^egime  of  Mary 
Tudor,  outwardly  conformed  to  the  established  wor- 
ship, and,  but  for  the  action  of  extreme  parties  on 
both  sides,  would  probably  have  ended  in  complete 
conformity.  Like  Philip  himself,  Elizabeth  and  her 
chief  adviser  were  influenced  in  their  action  by  poli- 
tical rather  than  religious  considerations  ;  but  the 
English  Protestant  clergy  and  laymen,  who  in  the 
days  of  the  Marian  persecution  had  found  shelter 
and  hospitality  in  Switzerland,  came  back  to  the 
land  of  their  birth  burning  with  zeal  to  purge  the 
worship  of  their  Church  of  all  traces  of  Rome.  To 
them  political  considerations  were  nothing.  In  the 
days  of  their  exile  they  had  seen  simplicity  and 
adherence  to  the  very  word  of  Scripture  made  the 
test  of  holiness  by  communities  and  men  whom  they 
knew  to  be  good,  and  they  were  rebellious  and  im- 
patient to  see  that  the  Protestant  English  Church, 
for  whose  establishment  they  had  yearned  and 
prayed,  included  in  its  practice  much  which  savoured 
of  their  Romish  persecutors.  Vestments,  lights, 
incense,  and  images  to  them  were  anathema  in  any 
circumstances,    and    Protestant    nonconformity   was 


INTRODUCTORY  ii 

born  of  the  determination  of  earnest  men  to  prefer 
religious  purity  to  political  expediency.  Violence 
and  rancour  on  the  one  extreme  were  answered  by 
violence  and  rancour  on  the  other.  The  laymen  of 
Catholic  leanings,  offended  at  the  Puritanism  of 
many  of  the  Reformed  clergy,  began  to  absent  them- 
selves from  church,  and  sought  again  the  ministra- 
tions of  priests  of  the  old  faith.  The  country  was 
flooded  by  ardent  young  missionaries  from  Allen's 
Seminary  at  Douai,  who,  in  disguise  and  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives,  went  from  one  Catholic  house  to 
another,  exhorting  and  encouraging  Englishmen  to 
stand  firm  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  Their  first 
mission  was  unquestionably  religious  alone,  but 
unfortunately  in  some  instances,  as  was  the  case  in 
the  Northern  rebellion,  they  were  too  useful  as  mes- 
sengers and  instruments,  or  too  zealous,  entirely 
to  avoid  participation  in  treason.  In  1579  the 
activity  of  the  Seminarist  missionaries  aroused  the 
jealousy  of  the  young,  vigorous,  militant  organisa- 
tion whose  especial  province  was  propaganda,  and 
the  Jesuits,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  secular 
priests,  insisted  on  taking  a  leading  part  in  the  Eng- 
lish mission.^     They,  too,  came  at  first  on  a  purely 

1  The  disturbances  in  the  English  College  at  Rome,  an  offshoot  of 
Allen's  Seminary  at  Douai,  if  they  were  not  deliberately  fomented  by 
the  Jesuit  interest,  at  least  gave  the  Society  its  opportunity  for  cap- 
turing the  Seminaries,  and  for  inti'uding  itself  into  the  English  Mis- 
sion. It  was  not  without  hesitation,  however,  that  the  ruling  Jesuits 
allowed  Persons  and  Campion  to  start  on  their  mission  to  England. 
Even  before  they  left,  the  English  seculars  were  in  fear  that  the  Jesuit 
fathers  would  assume  an  authority  out  of  proportion  to  their  numbers, 
and  would  meddle  in  state  affairs.  To  calm  this  fear,  the  rules  for 
guidance  of  the  Jesuits  of  the  English  Mission  (1580)  strictly  laid 
down  that  "  they  must  not  mix  themselves  with  affairs  of  state,  nor 
in  England  must  they  speak,  or  allow  others  to  speak  in  their  presence, 


12  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

religious  errand ;  but  one  at  least  of  them,  Father 
Persons,  soon  changed  his  plans,  and  thencefor- 
ward until  her  death  every  plot  for  the  liberation 
of  Mary  Stuart  was  directed  and  managed  by  Jesuits 
under  the  direction  of  Persons,  whose  masterful 
energy  and  zeal  drew  Allen  along  the  same  path. 
Their  treason  and  disloyalty  were  punished  by  pro- 
scription and  persecution/  The  Jesuits  saw  plainly 
after  the  fate  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  the  collapse 
of  the  Northern  Earls  that  Elizabeth  would  never 
be  overturned  except  by  the  aid  of  a  foreign  force. 
Whence  could  such  a  force  come  ?  Not  from 
France,  for  there  the  religious  divisions  were  more 
acute  even  than  in  England ;  and  Catharine  de 
Medici  only  kept  her  footing  by  preventing  either 
Catholics  or  Huguenots  from  monopolising  the 
national  power.  The  Pope  might  thunder  excom- 
munications, but  he   could  send   no  galleys  out  of 

against  the  Queen,  except  perhaps  in  company  of  those  whose  fidelity 
has  long  been  steadfastly  proved "  (quoted  by  Law  from  Simpson's 
transcrijits,  1085,  Brussels  Archives).  Campion  certainly  confined 
himself  to  his  reliu'ious  mission,  which  he  considered  invincible,  and  so 
went  to  martyrdom.  But  Persons  soon  convinced  himself  that  one 
Jesuit  political  raissioner  could  do  more  than  a  hundred  of  Allen's  easy- 
going spiritual  priests ;  and  notwithstanding  the  solemn  oath  he  took 
to  the  (Jatholic  Synod,  which  he  secretly  convened  in  Southwark  (July 
1580),  that  the  Mission  "was  purely  spiritual,  and  had  no  concern  or 
knowledge  of  affairs  of  state,"  he  soon  took  the  direction  of  all  politi- 
cal plots  in  England.  Thenceforward  the  Jesuits,  very  few  in  number 
at  any  time  in  England,  constituted  themselves  a  sort  of  aristocracy  of 
missioners,  who  looked  upon  the  purely  reliizious  secular  priests  as 
underlings,  and  treated  them  accordingly,  to  the  indignation  of  the 
latter,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  course  of  this  book.  (On  these  points  see 
Simpson's  "  Campion  ; "  T.  G.  Law's  "  Jesuits  and  Seculars  ; "  "  Dod," 
edited  by  Tierney  ;  Knox's  "  Life  aud  Letters  of  Cardinal  Allen ; " 
"'llie  Archpriest  Controversy"  (Camden  Society),  &c.) 

^  In  1585  it  was  made  high  treason  for  any  priest  ordained  abroad 
to  enter  England. 


INTRODUCTORY  13 

the  Mediterranean,  and,  moreover,  was  sparing  of 
his  money ;  so  to  Philip  alone  could  the  extreme 
Catholics  and  the  Jesuits  of  England  look  for  the 
liberation  of  their  country  from  Protestantism. 
But  at  what  cost  ?  Philip  clearly  would  not  incur 
the  risk  of  invading  England  for  the  purpose  merely 
of  placing  upon  the  throne  a  half-French  princess, 
whose  son  might,  for  aught  he  could  foresee,  be 
more  heretical  and  inimical  to  Spain  than  Eliza- 
beth ;  and  who,  in  any  case,  would  transfer  with 
his  crown  to  England  the  ancient  Scottish  tradition 
of  close  alliance  with  France.  So  the  Jesuits  set 
to  work  to  overcome  this  difficulty  at  the  expense 
of  England's  independence  ;  and  for  the  last  few 
years  of  the  unfortunate  Mary's  life  they  carefully 
enmeshed  her  in  the  toils,  until  she  had  solemnly 
disinherited  her  son  for  heresy  and  made  Philip 
of  Spain  her  heir.  Cautiously,  too,  Persons  and 
his  satellites  in  Flanders,  Rome,  and  Spain  spread 
the  idea  of  Philip's  own  descent  from  Edward  III.,, 
in  order  that  in  due  time  he  might  claim  to  succeed 
Mary  to  the  English  crown.  But  when  the  execu- 
tion of  Mary  forced  the  Spanish  king  to  some  extent 
to  show  his  hand,  and  to  unmask  his  political  aim, 
there  came  the  inevitable  parting  of  the  ways  be- 
tween loyal  and  disloyal  English  Catholics.  The 
extraordinary  intrigues  by  which  Pope  Sixtus  V. 
was  hoodwinked  as  to  English  succession  until  it 
was  too  late  for  him  to  withdraw  his  promised 
support  to  the  Armada,  has  been  told  by  me  else- 
where,^ and  when  at  last  the  expedition  failed,  joy 
and  contentment,  rather  than  sorrow,  were  expressed 

*  Introduction  to  the  Calendar  of  Spanish  State  Papers,  vol.  iv. 


14  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

by  the  Pope  and  cardinals  at  the  Catholic  defeat.^ 
For  years  Philip  had  endeavoured  to  keep  in  the 
background,  even  from  his  confidential  agents,  his 
political  design  to  subjugate  England  to  Spain ; 
but  long  before  the  Armada  sailed  the  Scottish 
Catholics  at  the  Vatican,  jealous  of  their  king's 
right  to  the  English  succession,  the  French  car- 
dinals, apprehensive  of  a  Spanish  dominion  over 
England,  the  Welsh  priests,  led  by  Owen  Lewis, 
Bishop  of  Cassano,  and  most  of  the  English  seculars, 
Carthusians  and  Benedictines,  none  of  whom  had 
any  love  for  the  pushing  Jesuits,  were  busy  with 
plans  that  should  make  England  a  Catholic  country 
without  submitting  her  to  a  foreign  yoke. 

When  the  Armada  suffered  catastrophe,  the  secret 
was  out  for  all  the  world,  and  Philip  could  work 
in  the  dark  no  longer.  Thenceforward  it  was 
evident  that  any  direct  attempt  of  his  against 
England  would  probably  meet  with  the  open  or 
covert  opposition,  not  only  of  Protestants,  but  of 
the  Papacy  itself  and  of  all  Catholics  but  the 
Spaniards,  the  Jesuits,  and  the  more  extreme  of 
Philip's  English  refugee  pensioners  ;  for  the  Pagets, 
Morgan,  Hesketh,  the  Treshams,  and  many  others 
who  had  lived  on  his  bounty,  declined  to  sell  their 
country  for  their  mess  of  pottage.  Whilst  the  death 
of  Mary  Stuart  and  the  defeat  of  the  Armada  thus 
laid  Philip's  real  designs  open  to  the  world,  two 
other  events  shortly  afterwards  still  further  altered 
the  possibilities  of  his  action  against  England.  The 
arrogant  ambition  of  Guise,  secure  as  he  was  of 
Spanish  support  and  money,  drove  Henry  III.  into 

^  Spanish  and  Venetian  Calendars,  1588-89. 


INTRODUCTORY  15 

the  arms  of  the  Huguenots.  The  next  heir  to  the 
French  throne  was  IJenry  of  Navarre,  the  Protestant 
prince,  bound  close  in  alHance  and  friendship  with 
Elizabeth.  If  France  and  England  became  allied 
Protestant  powers,  then  indeed  were  Spain  and 
Catholic  supremacy  in  Europe  doomed ;  and  the 
danger  to  Philip  in  France  was  infinitely  more 
pressing  than  in  England.  Money,  support,  and 
material  aid  were  consequently  forthcoming  in 
plenty  to  enable  the  Holy  League  to  crush  the 
Huguenots  once  for  all,  though  Spain  and  the 
Indies  were  bled  almost  to  the  last  doubloon. 
Again  circumstances  tore  away  the  screen  behind 
which  Philip  always  chose  to  fight.  The  screen 
in  this  instance  was  Guise's  love  of  the  Catholic 
Church;  but  the  murder  of  Guise  (December  1588) 
forced  Philip  into  the  open,  and  the  assassination 
of  Henry  III.  (August  1589)  completed  the  ex- 
posure. Spain  found  herself  in  the  position  which 
for  centuries  she  had  avoided,  namely,  that  of  being 
at  war  with  France  with  England  also  against  her. 
It  was  a  mere  necessity  of  her  continued  existence 
as  a  great  power  that  the  Protestant  faith  should 
not  be  officially  established  in  France ;  and  yet 
Philip  dared  not  employ  all  his  national  resources 
in  a  war  without  ensuring  some  sort  of  stability 
for  the  objects  for  which  he  was  making  such  great 
sacrifices.  It  was  clear  that  the  weakly  ambitious 
and  shifty  Mayenne,  the  figure-head  of  the  League 
now  that  his  brother  Guise  was  dead,  could  not  be 
depended  upon.  Navarre  would  surrender  no  part 
of  his  birthright ;  and  the  Spanish  king  was  obliged 
to  fight   openly  either  for  the   Spanish  domination 


1 6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

or  the  dismemberment  of  France.  Henry  IV. 
promptly  seized  the  advantage  that  such  a  position 
gave  to  him,  and  assumed  the  sympathetic  rdle  of 
the  patriotic  champion  opposed  to  the  foreign  sub- 
jection of  his  beloved  country,  whilst  the  League 
had  to  bear  the  reproach  of  fighting  against  the 
independence  of  France  with  the  aid  of  Spanish 
pikes ;  and  Philip  himself  was  forced  again  into  the 
position  he  hated,  namely,  to  appear  to  Christendom 
as  an  ambitious  prince  using  religion  as  a  cloak  for 
his  greed  of  territory. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  words  with  which 
this  chapter  opened  were  justified.  Up  to  the  period 
which  followed  the  defeat  of  the  Armada,  Philip, 
in  his  attempts  to  impose  Catholic  orthodoxy  upon 
England,  by  diplomacy,  by  revolution,  or  by  force, 
had  figured  as  a  devout  sovereign  bent  only  upon 
restoring  religious  unity  to  the  world,  and  re- 
establishing the  supremacy  of  the  Church  of  which 
he  was  the  divinely  appointed  champion.  But  from 
1590  onward  it  was  patent  to  everybody  that  his 
ultimate  object  was  the  political  subjection  of  the 
country,  in  the  interests  of  the  Spanish  monarchy, 
in  which  he  would  be  opposed  by  most  of  Europe  ; 
whilst  it  was  equally  obvious  that  the  crusading 
zeal  of  his  people,  which  had  been  a  main  source 
of  his  potency,  had  received  a  shock  from  which 
it  was  not  likely  to  recover.  The  attempts,  there- 
fore, of  the  Catholics  to  regain  supremacy  in  England 
divide  themselves  into  two  distinct  periods — the 
first,  from  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  to  the  end  of 
1589;  and  the  second,  from  1590  until  the  death 
of  the  Queen  in   1603.     The  events  of  the  former 


INTRODUCTORY  17 

of  these  periods  have  been  described  fully  and 
frequently :  the  participation  of  Mary  Stuart  in 
the  various  conspiracies  for  her  benefit  has  been 
discussed  ad  nauseam;  the  Spanish  intrigues  to 
regain  by  any  means,  fair  or  foul,  Philip's  hold 
upon  England  are  well  known  ;  the  efforts  of  the 
English  Catholics  themselves  to  impose  their  views 
upon  Elizabeth  and  Cecil  in  the  early  years  of  the 
reign  have  been  dealt  with  exhaustively  ;  ^  and  the 
long  series  of  juggles  by  which  Elizabeth's  marriage 
was  utilised  for  similar  ends  have  also  been  recently 
detailed.^  But  the  story  of  the  final  struggles  for 
Catholic  supremacy  in  the  new  set  of  circumstances 
Avhich  has  just  been  explained  from  1590  to  1603 
has  never  yet  been  fully  told  by  the  light  of  modern 
research ;  and  it  is  the  object  of  this  book  to  set 
forth  in  some  detail  the  abortive  series  of  intrigues 
by  which,  during  the  last  ten  years  of  Elizabeth's 
reign,  various  sections  of  Catholics — English,  Scot- 
tish, and  Irish — endeavoured  to  avail  themselves  of 
foreign  support  for  the  objects  they  had  in  view. 

These  intrigues  were  on  more  than  one  occasion 
in  this  period  dangerously  promising  of  success ; 
but  the  vigilance  of  the  Queen's  Government,  the 
growing  strength  of  the  Protestant  party  in  the 
country,  the  repugnance  to  Jesuit  methods  and  to 
foreign  domination  on  the  part  of  most  English 
Catholics,  seculars,  regulars,  and  laymen,  together 
with  the  disillusionment  and  exhaustion  of  Spain 
and  the  wonderful  good  fortune  of  Elizabeth,  ended 

^  By  Camden,  Hollingshead,  Froude,  Linjjard,  the  present  writer 
(in  the  Spanish  State  Pajters  and  Life  of  Burghley),  and  many  others. 
2  >'The  Courtships  of  Queen  Elizabeth,"  by  Martin  A.  S.  Hume. 

B 


1 8  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

by  frustrating  them  all,  and  finally  made  England 
a  Protestant  country. 

The  changed  position  of  Philip  towards  England 
caused  by  the  circumstances  preceding  the  year 
1590  was  accompanied  by  a  no  less  important 
variation  in  the  attitude  of  Elizabeth's  Govern- 
ment towards  Spain,  Drake  and  the  newer  school 
of  seamen  had  always  proclaimed,  and  had  them- 
selves demonstrated,  the  hollowness  of  Spain's  tra- 
ditional claim  to  overwhelming  power.  Seconded 
by  the  liberal,  or  Protestant,  element  in  the  English 
Council,  they  had  never  ceased  to  urge  the  Queen 
to  cripple  her  foe,  boldly  and  decisively,  by  means 
of  large  national  operations  against  his  own  country 
or  fleet.  But  they  had  against  them  the  Queen's 
parsimony,  Burghley's  love  of  compromise,  and  the 
traditional  dread  and  respect  of  Spain,  England's 
ancient  ally,  which  inspired  the  more  conservative 
councillors  of  the  Cecil  party.  The  latter  were 
content  with  the  punishment  inflicted  on  the  Ar- 
mada and  with  the  loss  of  prestige  suff'ered  by 
Spain,  and  were  in  favour  of  limiting  their  future 
operations  to  profitable  sporadic  attacks  upon  Span- 
ish commerce.  The  failure  of  the  English  attack 
upon  Portugal  in  1589,  in  the  interest  of  the  pre- 
tender, Don  Antonio,  was  unjustly  laid  to  the  fault 
of  Drake.  In  any  case,  the  Queen  was  deeply 
off'ended  at  the  result  of  the  expedition,  and  for 
the  rest  of  his  life  the  great  seaman  lived  some- 
what under  a  cloud ;  whilst  the  cautious,  old- 
fashioned  statesmen  endeavoured  to  avoid  a  renewal 
of  the  national  war  with  Spain,  and  the  more 
adventurous   spirits   were   content  to  reap  such  ad- 


INTRODUCTORY  19 

vantage  as  they  might  by  plundering  Spanish 
galleons  and  fighting  the  King  of  Spain  under 
the  banners  of  Henry  of  Navarre  or  the  United 
I'rovinces.  This  unenterprising,  indirect  warfare 
gave  to  Philip  the  opportunity  he  so  sorely  needed 
of  creating  a  navy  of  a  more  mobile  type  than  he 
had  previously  possessed.  It  was  seen  that,  for  the 
purpose  of  attack  or  evasion,  swiftness  and  handi- 
ness  were  his  first  desiderata  ;  and  whilst  his  ports, 
both  home  and  colonial,  were  relatively  safe  from 
attacks  during  Drake's  disgrace,  they  were  busy 
turning  out  vessels  of  a  newer  type  with  which  the 
commerce  of  the  Indies  might  be  safely  conducted  ; 
and,  when  opportunity  offered,  England  herself  might 
be   attacked/     Fast   sailing  "  galley-zabras,"   armed 

^  That  this  was  still  Philip's  ultimate  object  is  seen  from  the 
instructions  he  gave  to  Commander  Moreo,  his  representative  to  the 
Princes  of  the  League  (May  1589),  Paris,  MSS.  National  Archives, 
Spain,  K.  1449: — "As  tending  also  to  the  promotion  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  you  will  accept  in  the  form  which  appears  most  convenient  the 
offer  made  to  me  by  the  Duke  of  Mayenne  to  give  me  ports  and  other 
facilities  for  my  Armada  on  the  coasts  of  Normandy  and  Brittany  to 
ojjerate  against  England,  with  the  power  of  drawing  ships,  seamen,  &c., 
for  the  Armada  from  those  coasts."  In  September  of  the  same  year 
1589  Mendoza  wrote  to  Philip  from  Paris  advocating  the  purchase  of 
Boulogne  from  Epernon,  who,  he  says,  is  willing  to  sell  the  place  for 
40,000  crowns  ;  or  otherwise  that  it  should  be  captured  by  force.  He 
says  :  "  With  these  two  ports  (Boulogne  and  Calais)  at  your  Majesty's 
command,  the  enterprise  (against  England)  could  be  effected  very 
rapidly,  even  in  the  winter  ;  and  at  a  very  much  smaller  cost  than  the 
fitting  out  of  a  fresh  Armada  in  Spain  ne.\t  summer  or  autumn." 
From  Philip's  cool  reply  to  this  it  is  evident  that  his  eyes  were  still 
fixed  upon  Brittany,  and  that  the  collection  of  a  Spanish  Heet  in 
Boulogne  to  attack  England  was  no  part  of  his  plan  at  that  time.  In 
January  1590  Diego  Maldonado  sent  an  elaborate  report  to  Philip 
with  regard  to  the  possibility  of  tittiug  out  a  fleet  on  the  Brittany 
coast.  This  led  to  the  seizure  shortly  afterwards  of  the  port  of  Blavet, 
which  continued  to  be  the  Spanish  naval  b  ise  in  France  until  the 
signature  of  the  peace  ofVervins  in  1598  (Spanish  Calendar). 


20  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

treasure-ships,  were  built  in  Havana  in  considerable 
numbers.      Lisbon,    Cadiz,    Santander,    and    Ferrol 
contributed  galleons  built  from  English  and  Flemish 
designs,    and    armed    not   infrequently    by   English 
bronze    cannon    smuggled    into   Spain    by   Scottish, 
German,  and  other  ships. ^     In  the  meanwhile  hired 
squadrons   of  armed    merchantmen  were   organised 
to  protect  the  communications  between  Spain  and 
Flanders  by  the  Channel;    and   by  the   year    1592 
Philip  once  more  was  in  possession  of  a  royal  navy, 
less   pretentious   and   splendid   in   appearance  than 
the    Armada,    but    much    more    effective    for    the 
service  required  of  it.'^     These  preparations  did  not 
escape  the  notice  of  the  English  spies  in  Spain,  or 
diminish  in  the  telling ;  and  periodical  scares,  with, 
as  we  see  now,  but  small  justification,  kept  English 
sailors  on  the  alert  for  a  possible  descent  upon  the 
coasts  of  Great  Britain  ;  the  Spanish  base  upon  the 
Brittany    coast    giving    ever-present    point    to    the 
alarm.     Hawkins's  great  preparations  in  the  winter 
of    1589    to    attack    the    returning  Indian   treasure 
fleet  were   rendered  useless  because  the  Queen  in 
a   panic  forbade    the    expedition  from    leaving  the 
Channel.     If  Drake's  and  Ralegh's  policy  had  been 
followed,    the    English   fleet   would  have  sailed    to 
Corunna    and   have    destroyed    the    Spanish   naval 

1  Richard  Horton  writes  tlius  from  Madrid,  April  1591  (Hatfield 
Papers,  part  4) : — "  Aqui  recibimos  cada  dia  en  quantidad  artilleria  de 
Ingleterra,  por  via  de  Lubeck,  Embden,  Bremen,  y  Hamburgo  ;  y  la 
llevan  los  mercaderes  de  alia  sin  sospecha  con  navois  cargados  con 
carbon.     Todo  hace  el  dinero  !  " 

2  At  the  period  in  question  (1592)  there  were  75  ships  ready  for  sea 
in  the  King's  service,  of  which  23  were  fine  new  galleons  of  700  to 
1000  tons  each  ;  besides  40  more  of  such  galleons  in  course  of  con- 
struction (Corbett,  "  Drake  and  the  Tudor  Navy  "). 


INTRODUCTORY  2 1 

armaments  there  collected  ;  but  the  defensive  and 
commerce -harrying  tactics  of  the  more  cautious 
spirits  prevailed,  and  the  opportunity  was  missed  : 
the  only  result  of  the  sailing  of  the  fine  English 
fleet  under  Hawkins  and  Frobisher  in  1590  being 
to  frighten  the  treasure  fleet  of  Spain  into  re- 
maining on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  all  the 
winter.  The  English  were,  it  is  true,  thus  in  com- 
plete command  of  the  sea,  and  the  detention  of  the 
treasure  hampered  Philip's  progress  ;  but  the  timid 
policy  that  now  prevailed  in  Elizabeth's  council 
left  his  focus  of  activity  untouched,  and  thus  gave 
plausible  ground  for  a  renewal  of  the  alarm  which 
his  preparations  caused  in  England.  The  effect  of 
the  policy  was  seen  in  the  following  year,  when 
Howard  and  the  bulk  of  the  English  navy,  cruising 
off  the  Azores  to  intercept  the  delayed  Indian 
flotillas,  was  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  a  much 
stronger  Spanish  force  under  Bazan,  of  fifty-five  ships 
with  7200  men,  before  which  the  English  were 
forced  to  abandon  their  expected  prey  and  seek 
safety  in  flight — all  except  the  Revenge,  in  which 
Grenville  rashly  bade  defiance  to  them  all  and  went 
to  voluntary  destruction.  Though  Bazan's  squadron 
suffered  heavily  from  a  storm  on  its  way  home, 
its  strength  partially  convinced  the  English  queen 
of  the  growing  danger  she  had  to  fear  from  the 
reconstructed  navy  of  Spain.  But  still,  instead  of 
striking  at  the  root,  Elizabeth  and  Burghley  endea- 
voured to  meet  the  danger,  of  which  their  spies 
constantly  warned  them,  mainly  by  helping  the 
French  king  to  keep  the  Spanish  forces  fully 
occupied  in  France,  and  by  urging  Henry  to  special 


22  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

activity  in  Brittany,  where  her  own  forces  under 
Sir  Henry  Norreys  were  also  fighting  the  League. 
The  loss  of  the  Revenge,  too,  and  the  failure  of 
Howard  to  tackle  Bazan's  fleet,  as  well  as  the 
Queen's  annoyance  with  the  rash  perverseness  of 
Essex,  now  the  leader  of  the  Protestant  or  war 
party,  gave  to  the  Cecils  and  their  adherents  the 
upper  hand ;  and  caution  and  plunder  reigned 
supreme  as  a  policy  until  the  spring  of  1593,  when 
the  rehabilitated  naval  power  of  Spain  was  too 
evident  and  threatening  any  longer  to  be  trifled 
with.  It  is  at  this  juncture  that  we  propose  to 
take  up  in  detail  the  story  of  how  the  continued 
attempts  to  make  Great  Britain  Catholic  were  met 
and  frustrated. 


CHAPTEll   II 

Intrigues  of  the  Scottish  Catholics  with  Spain — James's  share  in  them — 
The  "Spanish  blanks" — The  Parliament  of  1593 — Fears  of  a  new 
Spanish  invasion — John  Cecil's  mission  from  Scotland  to  Spain — 
The  influence  of  Father  Persons — 'I'he  Spanish  mission  to  the 
Scottish  Catholic  Lords — John  Cecil's  betrayal  of  the  cause. 

As  early  as  the  end  of  1586,  whilst  the  preparations 
for  the  Armada  were  still  far  from  complete,  one  of 
Philip's  most  able  officers,  Bernardino  de  Mendoza, 
sent  to  the  King  a  most  convincing  state  paper, 
strongly  advising  that  England  shonld  not  be  attacked 
by  a  naval  invasion,  but  by  a  force  crossing  the  Scot- 
tish border ;  and  the  dangers  and  difficulties  which 
Mendoza  foretold  in  the  case  of  a  direct  attack  by 
sea  were  precisely  those  which  caused  the  failure  of 
the  attempt.^  The  origin  of  this  advice  was  the 
oflfer  of  the  Earl  of  Huntly  and  the  other  Scottish 
Catholic  Lords  to  secure  and  deliver  to  Spain  two 
ports  near  the  English  border  in  which  a  Spanish 
force  might  be  received  ;  and  in  return  for  Philip's 
support  to  the  Catholic  cause,  they  also  professed 
their  readiness  to  aid  him  with  their  own  forces,  and 
to  compel  James  to  become  a  Catholic."  At  that 
time,  however,  Philip's  main  plan  of  invasion  was 
laid ;  and  although  he  sent  money  and  fair  words  in 
plenty  to  the  Scottish  Lords,  in  order,  at  least,  that 

'  Mendoza  to  the  King,  J^ecember   24,    1586.      Spanish  Calendar, 

vol.  iii. 

2  Ibid. 

23 


24  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

James  might  be  prevented  from  helping  the  English, 
he  had  long  ago  made  up  his  mind  that  the  King  of 
Scots  would  be  no  fit  instrument  for  him. 

The  persistent  intrigues  of  the  Scottish  and  French 
Catholics,  after  the  Armada,  to  bring  about  a  com- 
promise founded  upon  the  conformity  of  James  to 
Catliolicism — intrigues  to  which  the  King  of  Scots 
himself  was  usually  a  party — confirmed  Philip's  de- 
termination to  exclude  James  altogether  from  his 
operations  against  England.  Fortified  by  the  opinions 
of  the  Jesuit  party,  voiced  by  Persons,  he  was  con- 
vinced that  the  jealousy  of  Englishmen  against  the 
Scots  would  lead  them  to  prefer  even  a  Spaniard  to 
a  Scotsman  as  their  king ;  and  the  Pontiff  himself 
was  lectured  and  rated  like  a  schoolboy  by  the  in- 
solent ambassador,  Olivares,  for  his  efforts  to  bring 
about  a  settlement  ^  by  means  of  the  conciliatory 
policy  of  which  the  great  majority  of  the  English 
Catholics  now  approved.  Philip,  however,  was  still  full 
of  expressions  of  sympathy  for  the  Scottish  Catholics  ; 
for,  with  the  growing  difficulty  of  a  direct  naval 
invasion  of  England,  for  reasons  set  forth  in  the  last 
chapter,  the  possibility  of  having  some  of  the  ports  of 
Scotland  open  to  him,  if  he  needed  them,  was  a  tempt- 
ing one.  Huntly,  Errol,  Angus,  and  the  rest  of  them, 
therefore  still  appealed  to  the  Spanish  King  to  aid 
their  party  ;  and  James  played  his  tricky  double  game 

*  See  Olivares'  letters  to  the  King,  in  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iii., 
in  which  the  Pope  is  spoken  of  most  disrespectfully,  and  details  given 
of  the  ambassador's  rudeness  to  him.  To  such  an  extent  was  this 
carried  that,  when  Henry  IV.'s  approaches  to  thePojie  and  his  desire  to 
conform  were  benevolently  listened  to  by  Sixtus,  not  only  did  Olivares 
insult  the  Pope  grossly,  but  Spanish  friars  denounced  him  as  a  heretic 
(Tempesti,  Vie  de  Sixtus  V.). 


CATHOLIC   SCOTS   APPEAL   TO    SPAIN  25 

of  taking  secret  part  in  the  Catholic  conspiracies 
against  his  own  Government,  in  order  to  keep  both 
parties  in  hand.  When,  in  1589-90,  he  was  obliged 
to  content  Elizabeth  and  the  Protestants  by  going 
through  the  pretence  of  punishing  the  Catholic  Lords 
whose  accomplice  he  was,  and,  during  his  absence 
in  Denmark,  entered  into  negotiations  for  the  for- 
mation of  a  great  Protestant  league  of  Scotland, 
England,  the  Northern  Powers,  and  Henry  IV.  (who 
had  not  yet  "  gone  to  Mass  "),  the  Scottish  Catholics 
took  fright  in  earnest,  and  sent  a  humble  emissary, 
one  Charles  Boyd,  to  Spain  to  pray  for  Philip's 
assistance  to  a  new  confederation,  which  was  evi- 
dently pledged  to  the  removal  of  James/  As  usual 
with  him,  Philip  wanted  "  further  information " 
before  he  would  pledge  himself  to  anything ;  but 
this  opening  was  more  promising  than  previous 
approaches  from  the  same  quarter,  as  in  this  case 
it  was  evident  that  James  himself  was  left  out  of 
the  calculation.  However  this  may  be,  Elizabeth's 
Government  were  fully  informed  of  the  plot,  and 
whilst  Boyd  was  still  in  Madrid  awaiting  Philip's 
answer,  Elizabeth,  in  her  own  hand,  thus  Avrote  to 
James  on  his  return  to  Scotland  from  his  wedding- 
trip  to  Denmark  in  May  1590:  "I  hope  you  wyl 
not  be  careles  of  such  practisis  as  hathe  passed  from 
any  of  yours  without  your  commission,  spetially  such 
attempts  as  might  ruin  your  realme  and  danger  you. 
If  any  respect  Avhatever  make  you  neglect  so  ex- 
pedient a  worke,  I  am  affraide  your  careles  heed 
will  worke  your  unlooked  danger."  The  Queen  in- 
dignantly closes  by  saying  that  she  knows  her  former 

1  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  p.  582. 


i6  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

letters  of  warning  have  been  shown  by  James  to  the 
Catholics  ;  and  if  she  sees  her  admonitions  dis- 
regarded for  the  future,  "  I  wil  hireafter  wische  al 
well,  but  counsel  no  more  at  all."  ^ 

James  was  not  long  before  he  again  got  his  own 
hand  into  the  plot.  Scotland  was  now  flooded  b}- 
priests  and  Jesuits  who  had  fled  from  the  severity  of 
Elizabeth's  penal  enactments  or  had  been  sent  from 
abroad  for  missionary  work,"  and  they  laboured  on 
fertile  soil  in  the  discontent  aroused,  especially  in 
the  King  and  nobles,  by  the  parliamentary  establish- 
ment in  1592  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  Govern- 
ment. This  time  it  was  Lord  Balgarys  and  Graham 
of  Fentry  who  took  the  lead  (for  Huntly,  by  his 
recent  unprovoked  murder  of  young  Murray,  was 
extremely  unpopular),  and  Balgarys  openly  defied 
the  Presbytery.^  But  the  ministers  were  strong  in 
their  numbers  and  in  Elizabeth's  support ;  and  the 
Catholic  nobles,  this  time  with  the  full  co-operation 
of  the  King,  decided  to  send  to  Spain  an  ambassador 
of  more  importance  than   Charles  Boyd   or  Robert 

1  Elizabeth  to  James,  May  1590  (Camden  Society). 

^  Pope  Clement  VIII.  liad  recently  sent  James  a  present  of  40,000 
ducats  by  an  envoy,  promising  him  a  regular  subsidy  of  10,000  ducats 
a  month  if  he  would  protect  the  Catholics. 

^  The  Church  Sessions  obtained  a  warrant  for  Balgarys'  arrest  and 
had  excommunicated  certain  persons  who  had  dined  in  his  house.  The 
Sessions  were  gathered  for  the  purpose  of  appointing  a  person  to 
execute  the  warrant,  when  Balgarys  went  with  his  followers  to  the 
place  of  meeting  and  made  all  the  ministers  present  beg  his  pardon 
and  dine  with  him,  they  giving  for  the  purpose  the  meal  prepared 
for  themselves,  "which  is  usually  very  splendid."  They  had  also  to 
promise  never  to  molest  any  one  again  on  his  account.  "  He  had  gone 
thither  for  the  purpose  of  killing  them  all,  but  contented  himself  with 
their  submission  at  the  request  of  his  clansmen  who  accompanied  him  " 
(Report  of  a  Scottish  Catholic  emissary  to  Spain  late  in  1592).  Spanish 
Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


JAMES   VI.    AND   THE    CATHOLICS     27 

Bruce  of  Bemie.^  The  person  chosen  was  George 
Ker,  brother  of  Lord  Newbottle,  who  carried  many 
letters  of  recommendation  from  Catholic  nobles,  and, 
like  Robert  Bruce  in  1586,  three  blank  sheets 
signed  and  sealed  by  Huntly,  Errol,  and  Angus 
respectively,  which  were  to  be  filled  up  when  he 
was  safely  out  of  reach  of  the  Protestants.  He  was 
to  ask  for  a  body  of  30,000  Spanish  troops  to  be 
landed  in  Scotland,  to  join  with  15,000  men  pro- 
vided by  the  Catholic  nobles  ;  the  avowed  purpose 
being  the  seizure  of  James  and  the  establishment  of 
the  Catholic  religion  in  Scotland  and  subsequently 
in  England.  Ker  was  caught,^  thanks  to  the 
vigilance  of  the  English  agents,  and  though  his 
blanks  told  but  little,  under  threat  of  torture  the 
messenger  was  more  communicative,  and  the  story 
was  divulged.  But  not  all  of  it  was  made  public ; 
for  he  carried  with  him  a  secret  paper  which,  until  our 
own  day,  has  been  hidden  "to  save  his  Majesty's 
honour."  This  extraordinary  document  is  endorsed, 
"Copy  of  the  Scotch  King's  instructions  to  Spain, 
which    should  have  been  sent  by  Powry  Oge,^  but 

1  Fiill  details  of  the  mission  of  Robert  Bruce  to  Spain  in  1586  will 
be  found  in  the  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iii. 

2  He  was  actually  apprehended  by  Andrew  Knox,  minister  of 
Paisley,  with  a  number  of  students  of  Glasgow  University,  at  Cumray, 
a  small  island  in  the  mouth  of  the  Clyde,  just  as  he  was  taking  ship  for 
Spain,  on  the  27th  December  1592.  The  conspiracy,  so  called,  of  the 
"  Spanish  Blanks,"  has  been  vehemently  denounced  by  many  Scottish 
Catholics,  and  by  the  present  ]\Iarquis  of  Huntly  in  his  "  Memorials  of 
Aboyne,"  as  a  mystification  got  up  by  the  Protestant  party  to  discredit 
the  Catholics.  This  contention  will  no  longer  hold  water  in  view  of 
the  original  document,  transcribed  by  the  present  writer,  in  the 
Simancas  Archives,  and  summarised  in  the  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 
p.  603.  and  others  in  vol.  iii.  of  the  same  Calendar. 

3  This  was  Pury  Ogilvie.  to  whose  mission  to  Sjjain  on  behalf  of 
James  in  1 596  I  shall  have  to  refer  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 


2  8  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

thereafter  were  concredit  to  Mr.  George  Ker,  and 
withdrawn  at  his  taking  for  the  safety  of  his 
Majesty's  honour!'  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  balanced 
statement  of  both  sides  of  the  question,  such  as 
Lord  Burghley  was  in  the  habit  of  making  on  all 
important  subjects  of  discussion.  "This  enterprise 
is  one  of  the  greatest  that  ever  was,  since  it  is  to 
conquer  England,  partly  by  foreign  force,  and  partly 
by  some  amongst  themselves.  But  since  all  great 
enterprises  ought  to  be  suddenly  and  resolutely 
prosecuted,  this  ought  to  be  executed  at  furthest  in 
harvest  next." 

This  is  the  statement  of  the  case  to  be  decided, 
and  the  arguments  for  and  against  are  set  forth 
with  the  wordy  pedantry  so  dear  to  James.  After 
reciting  the  readiness  of  preparations  in  Scotland, 
and  the  danger  of  Elizabeth's  learning  the  secret  if 
the  execution  is  delayed,  fear  is  expressed  that  in 
the  meantime  also  Philip  '*  might  dip  with  her  for 
his  own  particular,  which,  if  it  so  fell  out,  would 
disappoint  the  whole  enterprise."  ^  The  result 
of  James's  deliberation  was,  nevertheless,  finally 
against  present  haste.  "  Wherefore  my  opinion  is 
that  it  die  down,  as  I  said  before.  In  the  mean- 
time, I  will  deal  with  the  Queen  of  England  fair 
and  pleasantly  for  my  title  to  the  crown  of  England 
after  her  decease,  which  thing,  if  she  grant  it,  as  it 

^  The  approaching  reconciliation  of  Henry  IV.  to  the  Catholic 
Church  made  a  rapprochement  between  Elizabeth  and  Philip  distinctly 
probable  at  the  time,  and  the  air  was  full  of  rumours  to  that  effect.  If 
the  Cecil  party  had  been  able  to  have  their  way  an  agreement  would 
probably  have  been  made.  This  would  once  more  have  grouped  the 
powers  on  the  old  lines  of  national  rather  than  religious  interest,  and 
the  union  of  England  and  Scotland  under  James  would  then  have  been 
extremely  unlikely. 


JAMES   VI.   AND   THE   CATHOLICS     29 

is  not  impossible,  however  unlikely,  we  have  then 
attained  our  design  without  stroke  of  sword."  ^  This 
secret  instruction  gives  us  the  key  to  James's  other- 
wise incomprehensible  action  in  the  matter.  The 
Catholic  nobles  had  only  told  him  half  the  truth,  or 
less,  and  instead  of  making  use  of  them,  he  was  their 
dupe.  It  was  not  to  gain  the  crown  of  England  for 
him,  so  much  as  the  control  of  affairs  by  the  Catholic 
faction,  that  they  sought  Spanish  aid.  When  the 
communications  finally  reached  Philip,  little  indeed 
was  heard  of  James's  claim  to  the  English  crown,  and 
much  of  the  desire  of  the  Catholic  Earls  to  hold  him 
prisoner  as  a  tool  of  their  party  for  the  destruction 
of  the  Reformed  doctrines  in  Scotland  and  England. 
The  exposure  of  the  plot  by  the  capture  of  Ker  and 
Fentry  drove  Huntly  and  his  friends  into  open  re- 
bellion ;  but  James,  by  his  dour  attitude  towards 
the  Protestants  who  had  discovered  the  conspiracy, 
and  his  tenderness  to  the  Catholic  rebels,  clearly 
demonstrated  his  annoyance  at  the  frustration  of  his 
own  crooked  plans.  Fentry,  the  least  culpable  of  the 
conspirators,  it  is  true,  was  executed  ;  but  the  power- 
ful Earls,  who  were  far  more  guilty  than  their  accom- 
plice, as  James  knew,  were  allowed  to  return  to  their 
strongholds  unpunished.  What  Elizabeth  thought 
of  the  tergiversation  of  the  King  of  Scots,  she  her- 
self set  forth  in  a  vigorous  autograph  letter  to  him 
sent  by  the  hand  of  her  ambassador  Bowes  at  the 
end  of  January  1593  :  "Wonders  and  marvelles  do 
so  assail  my  conceatz,  that  the  long-expected  answer 
to  matters  of  such  waight  as  my  last  letter  needs 
not  seame  strange.      Yet  suche  I  see  the  eminent 

^  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.  p.  215 


30  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

danger  and  wel-ny  ready  approache  of  your  state's 
ruin,  your  live's  peril,  and  your  neighbour's  wrong, 
as  I  may  not,  to  kepe  you  company,  neglect  what  1 
should,  though  you  forget  that  which  you  ought.  I 
am  sorry  I  am  driven  from  warninge  to  heed,  and 
from  too  much  trust  to  seek  a  true  way  how  your 
deeds,  not  your  wordz,  may  make  me  assurance  that 
you  be  no  way  guilty  of  your  own  decay  and  other 
danger.  Receive  therefore,  in  short,  what  course  I 
mynd  to  hold.  .  .  .  Since  you  first  breathed  I  re- 
garded alwais  to  conserve  hit  [i.e,  her  regard  for 
him)  as  my  womb  hit  had  bine  you  bare.  Yea  ;  I 
withstode  the  hands  and  helps  of  a  mighty  king  to 
make  you  safe,  even  gained  by  the  bloud  of  many 
my  deare  subjects'  lives.  I  made  myself  the  bul- 
wark betwixt  you  and  harm,  when  many  a  wyle  was 
invented  to  steale  you  from  your  land,  and  make 
other  posses  your  soile.  When  your  best  strong- 
holds were  in  my  handes,  did  I  keep  them  ?  Nay  ; 
I  both  conserved  them  and  rendered  them  to  you. 
Could  I  endure  that  foreigners  had  a  footing  in  your 
kingdom  ?  No  ;  I  never  left  till  all  the  Frenche 
that  kept  their  lives  parted  from  your  soile.  .  .  . 
Let  me  remember  you  how  well  I  was  thanked  or 
he  rewarded  that  once  brought  all  the  letters  of  those 
wicked  conspirators  of  the  Spanish  faction,  even  the 
selfe-same  that  still  to  your  eminent  peril  you  have 
conserved  in  their  estates.  Was  I  not  so  much 
doubted  as  hit  was  thought  to  be  an  Italian  inven- 
tion to  make  you  holde  me  dearer,  and  contrived  of 
malice  not  due  by  cause  ?  .  .  .  See  what  encourage- 
ment I  received  for  many  wakeful  cares  for  your 
safety.   .   .  .  Now  of  late,  by  fortunate  good  hap,  a 


ELIZABETH'S    INDIGNATION  31 

lewd  fellowe  hathe  been  apprehended  with  lettars 
and  instructions.  I  pray  God  he  be  so  wel  han- 
deled  as  he  may  confess  all  his  knowledge  in  the 
Spanish  conspiracie,  and  that  you  use  not  this  man 
as  slightly  as  you  don  the  ringleaders  of  this  treason. 
I  vowe  if  you  do  not  rake  it  to  the  bottomc  you  wyl 
verefie  what  many  a  wise  man  hathe  (viewing  your 
proceedings)  judged  of  your  guiltiness  of  your 
own  wreck  ;  with  a  whining  that  they  wyl  you  no 
harme  in  enabling  you  with  so  rich  a  protector  {i.e. 
as  Spain)  that  wyl  prove  in  the  end  a  destroyer.  1 
have  beheld  of  late  a  strange  dishonourable  and 
dangerous  pardon,  which,  if  it  be  true,  you  have 
not  only  neglected  yourself  but  wronged  me.  ...  I 
require,  therefore,  to  all  this  a  resolute  answer, 
which  I  challenge  of  right ; "  and  then  the  indig- 
nant Queen  demands  that  sudden  retribution  shall 
fall  upon  the  conspirators  ;  and  ends  with  a  semi- 
apology  for  the  justified  heat  of  her  "  too  long 
skribling."  ^ 

This  letter  was  followed  in  a  few  weeks  by  the 
despatch  of  Lord  Borough  to  James  from  Elizabeth 
to  urge  him  to  decisive  action  against  the  Catholic 
Lords,  instead  of  the  make-believe  pursuit  of  them 
which  the  King  was  undertaking;^  and  simul- 
taneously the  Catholics  sent  a  fresh  envoy  to  inform 
Philip   of  all    that  had  passed.     Huntly    and    Bal- 

^  Elizabeth  to  James  (Camden  Society). 

2  James  wrote  to  Elizabeth  at  this  juncture  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv. 
p.  296)  promising  her  emphatically  "  that  they  never  shall  liave  dwell- 
ing under  hinx  who  are  guilty  of  so  foul  a  treason,  but  the  Queen's 
helpful  hand  must  be  had  thereto."  He  tells  her,  however,  that  she 
is  quite  as  much  interested  as  he  in  excluding  the  Spaniards  from 
Scotland. 


32  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

garys,  they  told  him,  had  compelled  the  burgh  of 
Aberdeen  to  deliver  to  them  the  person  of  the  Papal 
envoy,  and  that  "  seeing  how  little  they  can  hope  for 
from  their  King,"  they  had  employed  the  Pope's 
subsidy  to  pay  their  clansmen  in  arms.^ 

The  two  rival  organisations  of  spies,  serving  the 
interests  respectively  of  the  Cecils  and  Essex,  kept 
Elizabeth  well  informed  of  all  these  approaches  to 
Spain.  Colonel  Sir  William  Semple  was  known  to  be 
resident  in  the  Spanish  court,  always  ready  to  urge 
the  case  of  the  Scottish  Catholics,  and  the  coming  and 
going  of  the  Scottish  messengers  were  fully  reported. 
The  violent  book  just  published  by  Persons  against 
Elizabeth's  government  and  spread  broadcast  over 
Europe,  and  the  strong  position  held  by  Spain  on 
the  Brittany  coast,  joined  with  the  Scottish  intrigue 
in  exciting  alarm  in  England  ;  and  this  was  still 
further  exacerbated  by  the  war  party  headed  by 
Essex,  who  were  for  ever  discovering  or  inventing 
fresh  Spanish  plots.  The  result  of  all  this  was  a 
recrudescence  of  the   severity   against  the  recusant 

1  In  the  same  report  (Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  p.  590)  there  is  a 
curious  account  of  a  "  miraculous  "  victory  by  Huntly  with  37  clans- 
men over  Argyll  with  1500  soldiers,  500  of  the  latter  being  killed, 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  man  on  the  Catholic  side.  The  victory  is 
ascribed  to  the  intervention  of  St.  Laurence,  Huntly  having  chosen 
that  saint  for  his  patron  during  the  ensuing  year  (in  accordance,  it  is 
asserted,  with  an  old  Scottish  custom).  Another  miraculous  story  is 
told  in  the  same  report  about  the  Earl  of  Morton,  who  was  a  Caiholic, 
but  had  conformed  to  the  Presbyterian  Church.  When  he  was  about 
to  sign  the  Articles  an  angel  appeared  to  him  and  foretold  disaster  to 
him  if  he  did  so.  The  Earl  was  alarmed,  and  "  again  put  on  a  gold 
crucifix  and  an  Agnus  Dei "  that  he  used  to  wear  round  his  neck.  He 
allowed  himselt  subsequently  to  be  persuaded  to  sign  the  Articles  ;  and 
shortly  afterwards  in  an  affray  with  the  Johnstones  met  with  the  end 
the  angel  had  predicted,  his  right  hand  being  smitten  off  Ijy  Johnstone 
himself. 


THE    PARLIAMENT    OF    1593  33 

English  Catholics.  No  distinction  was  made  be- 
tween those  of  the  Jesuit  party  and  the  great  mass 
of  English  Catholics,  who  were  proud  of  the  new 
potency  of  their  country  under  the  wise  government 
of  Elizabeth,  and  would  now  have  been  content,  as 
a  last  resource,  with  toleration  for  their  faith.  Uni- 
formity of  doctrine  and  practice  was  made  a  test  of 
loyalty,  and  both  Catholics  and  Puritans  equally  felt 
the  lash.  The  Cecil  party  had  thus  against  them 
the  extreme  men  on  both  sides,  and  resorted  to 
rigid  severity  in  order  to  hold  the  middle  way. 

In  this  excited  condition  of  affairs  in  England 
it  was  necessary  for  a  large  sum  of  money  to  be 
spent  to  place  the  country  into  a  state  of  defence. 
No  Parliament  had  been  held  for  four  years,  but  the 
expenses  of  the  wars  in  France  and  Holland,  and 
her  advances  to  Henry  IV.,  had  depleted  Elizabeth's 
treasury,  and  a  fervent  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of 
the  Commons  had  to  be  made  in  the  spring  of  1593. 
The  Queen's  speech  was  read  by  Lord  Keeper 
Puckering.  It  sounds  somewhat  curious  to  modern 
ears,  for  the  members  were  warned  that  it  was  "  Her 
Majesty's  pleasure  that  the  time  be  not  spent  in 
devising  and  enacting  new  laws,  the  number  of  which 
are  so  great  already  as  it  rather  burdeneth  than  easeth 
the  subject;  but  the  principal  cause  of  tljis  Parliament 
is  that  Her  Majesty  might  consult  with  her  subjects 
for  the  better  withstanding  those  intended  invasions 
which  are  greater  than  ever  before  heard  of.  And 
where  heretofore  it  hath  been  used  that  many 
delighted  themselves  in  long  orations,  full  of  ver- 
bosity and  vain  ostentation,  more  than  in  s])eaking 
things  of  substance,  the  time  that  is  precious  should 

c 


34  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

not  be  thus  spent  .  .  .  and  the  good  hours  not  be 
lost  in  idle  speeches."  "The  Queen,"  he  said,  "was 
desirous  of  the  advice  of  her  loving  people  con- 
cerning the  defence  and  preservation  of  herself, 
her  realms  and  subjects,  from  the  power  and  oppres- 
sion of  a  foreign  enemy.  This  enemy  was  the  King 
of  Spain,  whose  malice  was  increased  by  his  loss  and 
shame  received  in  1588.  His  resolution  was  still 
to  invade  this  kingdom,  as  plainly  did  appear  by 
his  building  and  getting  together  many  ships  of 
less  bulk  and  better  fitted  for  service  in  our  seas 
than  those  greater  galleons  and  galliasses  were  in 
1588.  That  he  desired  some  nearer  place  from 
whence  to  invade  England,  and  therefore  at  this 
time  was  labouring  to  plant  himself  in  Brittany.  He 
had  also  raised  factions  in  Scotland  and  conspiracies 
against  the  King  there,  finding  him  an  enemy  to  his 
ambitious  designs  ; "  and  Puckering,  for  the  Queen, 
then  reproached  the  Commons  with  the  difficulty 
of  collecting  the  supplies  voted  in  past  Parliaments, 
and  urged  them  to  liberality  and  a  reformed  inci- 
dence, so  that  the  wealthy  classes  should  pay  their 
full  share. ^  The  Speaker  (Coke),  when  his  turn 
came,  fully  fell  in  with  the  Queen's  humour,  and 
scoffed  at  "  JElephantinas  Leges."  Wherefore,  to 
make  more  laws  might  seem  superfluous,  and  he 
might  ask,  "  Qnid  causa  ut  crescunt  tot  magna 
volumina  legis  ? "  and  answer,  "In  promptu  causa 
est  crescit  in  orbe  malum,"  and  much  more  to  the 
same  courtly  effect.  But  when,  according  to  custom, 
he  prayed  the  Queen  to  grant  her  faithful  Commons 
free  speech,  freedom  from  arrest,  and   access  to  her 

^  Digges,  "  The  Proceedings  iu  the  Last  Four  Parliaments  of  Elizabeth." 


THE    PARLIAMENT    OF    1593  35 

person,  he  got  a  very  harsh  and  grudging  answer ; 
for  Elizabeth  still  remembered  and  resented  the 
talk  about  the  succession,  which  had  otionded  her 
in  the  last  Parliament.  The  Queen's  formal  reply 
to  the  address  of  the  Commons  struck  the  same 
note  of  defiance  to  Spain.  "  I  fear  not  all  his 
threatenings,"  she  said;  "his  great  preparations  and 
mighty  forces  do  not  stir  me ;  for  though  he  cometh 
against  me  with  a  greater  power  than  ever  was  his 
Invincible  Navy,  I  doubt  not,  God  assisting  me, 
but  that  I  shall  be  able  to  defeat  and  overthrow  him. 
I  have  great  advantage  over  him  ;  for  my  cause  is 
just."  She  had  heard,  she  continued,  that  certain 
English  people  resident  on  the  coast  had  fled  inland 
on  the  approach  of  the  Armada,  leaving  their  towns 
unprotected.  "  But  I  swear,  by  God,  if  I  knew 
those  persons,  or  any  that  shall  do  so  hereafter,  I 
will  make  them  know  and  feel  what  it  is  to  be  so 
fearful  in  so  urgent  a  cause."  In  the  subsequent 
speeches  in  the  House,  the  most  was  made  of  the 
Scottish  intrigues  with  Spain  ;  and  Sir  Robert  Cecil 
especially  magnified  the  danger  whilst  praising 
to  the  skies  the  King  of  Scots'  attitude.  "  The 
King  of  Spain's  malice,"  he  said,  "  thus  (hiily 
increaseth  against  us,  and  seeketh  also  to  stir  up 
sedition  amongst  us  by  his  instruments.  The  num- 
ber of  Papists  also  daily  increaseth,  or,  at  leastwise, 
be  more  manifested."  With  only  a  dissenting  voice 
from  Francis  Bacon,  for  which  the  Queen  frowned 
upon  him  for  many  a  day  to  come,  a  large  subsidy 
was  voted  to  cover  four  years'  supply,  and  a  fero- 
cious new  set  of  penal  laws  was  enacted  against 
recusants  and  Catholics.     But  directly  a  few  of  the 


36  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Puritan  members  dared  to  talk  about  the  succession, 
they  were  incontinently  clapped  into  prison,  and 
the  House  was  dissolved  in  a  hurry. 

Ralegh's  speech  on  the  Spanish  plans  is  inter- 
esting, as  confirming  the  information  then  being 
constantly  sent  to  Philip  by  his  spies  in  England, 
namely,  that  the  great  fear  of  the  English  was  of  the 
new  form  of  Spanish  galleys.  It  will  be  recollected 
that  the  galleys  in  the  Armada  had  broken  down 
and  failed  utterly.  And  it  is  now  generally  seen 
that  the  day  for  galley  warfare  in  the  open  sea  had 
gone  by ;  but  contemporaries  had  not  yet  fully 
mastered  the  fact.  It  was  understood  that  mobility 
was  the  secret  of  success, ;  and  the  new  type  of 
galley-zabra,  which  employed  both  sail  and  sweeps 
as  needed,  seemed  to  onlookers  to  provide  this 
desideratum,  together  with  a  seaworthiness  not  pos- 
sessed by  the  old  galleys.^  Ralegh,  after  setting 
forth  the  wide  ramifications  of  Philip's  activity, 
continued:  "He  (Philip)  hath  so  corrupted  the 
nobility  in  Scotland  that  he  hath  promised  them 
forces  to  assist  the  Papists,  that  were  ready  to  join 
with  any  foreign  forces  that  would  make  them 
strong.  ...  In  his  own  country  (Spain)  there  is 
all  possible  preparing  ;  and  he  is  coming  with  sixty 
galleys,  besides  other  shipping,  with  purpose,  if  he 
goes  forward  and  hath  good  success.  We  must 
then,  if  he  invade  us,  have  no  ships  riding  at  anchor, 
but  all  will  be  little  enough  to  withstand  him.  xit 
his  coming  he  fully  resolved  to  get  Plymouth,  or  at 

^  Although  built  on  "alley  lines,  these  vessels  were  mainly  for  sailing  ; 
but  the  pdssessioii  of  sweeps  greatly  added  to  their  effectiveness  in  war. 
They  uluniately  developed  into  the  frigate  or  cruiser. 


ALARM    IN   ENGLAND  37 

least  to  possess  some  of  the  havens  this  summer 
within  our  land,  and  Plymouth  is  in  most  danger." 
And  then  Ralegh  again  advocated  for  the  hundredth 
time  the  policy  of  Drake  and  the  seamen  to  meet 
and  defeat  the  enemy  before  he  approached  England. 
"Now  the  way  to  defeat  him  was  this — to  send  a  royal 
army  and  supplant  him  in  Brittany,  and  to  possess 
ourselves  there  ;  and  to  send  a  strong  navy  to  sea, 
and  to  lie  with  it  on  the  Cape,  and  at  San  Lucar,  to 
which  places  come  all  his  ships  with  riches  from  all 
places  ;  and  then  we  may  set  upon  all  that  comes." 

How  far  the  alarm  expressed  by  the  members  of 
the  Government  of  a  direct  Spanish  invasion  of 
England  was  real,  it  is  difficult  at  this  time  to  say. 
It  was  the  fixed  policy  of  the  Essex  party  to  keep 
alive  distrust  and  hatred  of  Spain  in  order  to  pro- 
mote a  decisive  national  war  which  should  give 
final  supremacy  to  the  pronounced  Protestant  party. 
But  at  this  juncture  the  Cecils  and  their  friends 
were  quite  as  alarmist  as  the  Puritans.  And  yet 
Lord  Burghley  was  perfectly  well  aware,  from  the 
reports  of  his  spy,  Chateau  Martin,  and  others  in 
Spain,  that  the  naval  preparations  of  Philip  in  the 
spring  of  1593  could  hardly  be  directed  to  an  in- 
vasion of  England.^     There  were  at  that  time  twenty- 

^  The  pretext  for  tlie  alarm  was  the  numerous  avowals  of  the 
priests  and  others  captured  of  the  preparations  they  had  heard  were 
being  made  in  Spain  for  the  invasion.  Sir  William  Stanley,  it  appears, 
had  been  summoned  to  Sixain  to  inspect  the  ships  in  P'errol,  of  which 
he  said  there  Avere  thirty-six  which  were  capable  of  beating  the  whole 
English  navy.  Stanley  proclaimed  everywhere  that  he  was  to  com- 
mand 10,000  troops  for  the  expedition,  and  the  landing  was  to  take 
place  in  Lancashire  or  at  Mil  ford  Haven  ;  and  he  boasted  much,  and 
perfectly  without  warrant,  of  the  co-operation  of  his  great  kinsman 
the  Earl  of  Derby,  hinting  also  that  Arabella  Stuart  was  to  be  pro- 


38  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

eight  ships  in  Lisbon,  Seville,  &c.,  destined  to  go  out 
and  meet  the  Indian  flotilla,  for  the  purpose  of 
protecting  it  on  the  voyage  home.  There  was  also 
a  small  squadron,  unequipped,  at  Ferrol,  and  some 
other  ships  scattered  in  the  Biscay  ports,  intended 
for  the  conveyance  of  reinforcements  to  Brittany  or 
the  south  of  France.  There  was,  therefore,  no  pos- 
sibility of  another  Armada  in  that  year ;  and  the 
expressed  alarm  of  the  Cecil  party  in  Parliament, 
and  the  subsequent  action  of  the  Government,  may 
be  partly  explained  by  a  recommendation  of  Chateau 
Martin  to  Lord  Burghley  in  April  1593.  Writing 
from  Bordeaux,  he  says  that  the  best  way  to  em- 
barrass the  King  of  Spain's  action,  "  et  lui  rendriez 
pour  cette  ann^e  ses  forces  inutiles,  qui  serait  un 
grand  remede  pour  les  aflfaires  d'ici "  (i.e.  France), 
will  be  to  spread  a  rumour  that  Sir  Francis  Drake 
is  going  to  attack  Portugal,  and  the  spy  offers  to  use 
the  "  artifices  "  necessary  for  setting  such  a  rumour 
afloat.  "Mais  il  est  besoin  de  faire  quelque  demon- 
stration d'y  vouloir  employer  le  dit  Sieur  Drac, 
parce'que  d'un  bruit  seulement  qui  a  couru  en 
Espagne  que  sa  Majestic  (i.e.  Elizabeth)  I'emploiait, 
et  qu'elle  lui  avait  deja  delivre  ses  commissions, 
I'Espagne  en  a  ^te  quelques  jours  en  tres  grande 
alarme  ;  dont  il  se  pent  juger  ce  que  serait  lorsque 
Ton  y  verrait  quelque  apparence."  ^ 

claimed  Queen.  The  attempt,  lie  aunounced,  was  to  be  made  in  the 
spring  of  1593,  "before  which  they  hoped  to  get  Brest."  No  doubt 
this  vapourino  on  the  part  of  Stanley  was  for  the  purpose  of  frighten- 
ing the  English  Government,  and  of  forcing  Philip  on  the  course  desired 
by  the  EnL;lish  zealots.  This  view  is  confirmed  in  "  The  State  of  the 
English  Fugitives."  (See  also  Reports  of  Spies  in  1592  in  State 
Papers,  Domestic,  and  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv. 
^  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.  p.  307. 


EXAGGERATION    OF   THE   ALARM      39 

The  fact  is  evident  to  iis  now  that  Philip  was  in 
far  more  alarm  of  the  possible  attacks  of  English 
ships  upon  his  treasure  fleet,  upon  his  Brittany 
garrisons,  or  upon  his  coasts  and  colonies,  than  the 
English  had  reason  to  be  of  him,  so  far  as  a  direct 
invasion  was  concerned.  Don  Pedro  VahJes,  who 
was  just  ransomed  from  captivity  in  England  (March 
1593),  wrote  very  apprehensively  of  the  })reparations 
in  the  English  ports,  and  hazarded  many  guesses 
at  the  possible  destination  of  the  English  ships.^ 
Philip  had  his  hands  more  than  full  in  France. 
He  was  old,  ill,  and  weary  ;  and  he  had  probably 
ah'eady  decided  in  his  own  slow  mind  that  his 
strength  was  insufficient,  as  it  obviously  was  now, 
to  repeat  the  supreme  effort  of  the  Armada  and  to 
attempt  a  direct  invasion  of  England  ;  though,  as 
usual,  he  kept  his  own  counsel  on  the  matter. 

It  is  likely  that,  so  fur  as  the  Cecils  were  con- 
cerned at  least,  the  scare  in  the  English  Parliament 
and  public  was  deliberately  exaggerated,  in  order 
that  the  supplies  necessary  for  the  continuance  of 
the  English  aid  to  Plenry  IV.  against  the  Spaniards 
in  the  north  of  France,  and  for  counteracting  the 
Catholic  intrigues  in  Scotland,  might  be  more  libe- 

1  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  p.  596.  Almost  every  letter  at  this 
period,  also  from  the  Venetian  ambassador  in  Madrid  to  the  Doge 
(Venetian  Calendar),  speaks  of  the  fear  inspired  and  the  dt^predations 
committed  by  the  large  number  of  English  privateers  on  the  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  coasts  ;  and  constant  references  are  made  as  to  the 
intention  of  the  Spanish  armaments  being  defensive.  On  the  4th 
April  1593  he  writes:  "Although  no  re.ular  fleet  has  saileii  from 
England,  yet  there  are  about  fifty  English  ships  in  these  waters. 
They  are  doing  most  serious  damage  every  day,  as  the  larger  part  of 
the  Spanish  ships  are  built  by  private  individuals  on  the  security  of 
about  six  per  cent,  on  all  the  goods  brought  by  the  Indian  fleet." 


40  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

rally  forthcoming.  In  any  case,  notwithstanding 
the  exciting  speeches  in  Parliament,  little  was  done 
in  the  matter  of  naval  armament  beyond  the  adop- 
tion of  Chateau  Martin's  recommendation  of  spread- 
ing rumours  of  Drake's  new  commission  for  sea ; 
and  Philip  was  even  allowed  to  send  large  reinforce- 
ments to  Brittany  in  the  winter  of  1593  without 
molestation  from  the  English.  This  last  event, 
however,  reawakened  the  fears  of  the  latter,  and 
in  the  following  spring  a  successful  attack  was 
made  upon  the  threatening  position  of  the  Spaniards 
in  Brest  harbour  and  other  Breton  fortresses  in 
Spanish  hands. 

Chateau  Martin,  who  was  usually  well  informed, 
pointed  out  in  April-May  1593  to  Lord  Burghley 
that  Spanish  intrigues  in  Scotland  were  still  afoot. 
"  lis  esperent  fort  en  Espagne  une  revolte  en 
]£cosse.  .  .  .  Le  roi  d'Espagne  a  bonne  envie  d'y 
former  un  parti  a  sa  devotion,  et  d'y  aider  avec  les 
forces  qu'il  pourra,  s'il  y  voit  tant  peu  soit-il  de  fonde- 
ment."  ^  Whilst  this  was  being  written,  a  more 
serious  embassy  than  any  that  had  preceded  it  was 
being  sent  from  the  Scottish  Catholic  Lords  to  Philip. 
The  active  intervention  of  the  Jesuit  priests  in  the 
Scottish  Catholic  conspiracy  of  1581-82  had  not  been 
a  success,  and  in  the  changed  aspect  of  affairs  since 
the  failure  of  the  Armada,  the  Company — as  has 
been  explained — continued  to  oppose  any  scheme 
for  the  settlement  of  English  affairs  which  should 
lead  to  a  compromise,  or  to  the  doubtful  conversion 
of  James  Stuart.  Either  the  Scottish  Catholic  nobles 
had  now  grown  reckless,  and  knowing  the  price  to 

^  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv. 


FATHER   CECIL   SENT   TO   SPAIN       41 

be  paid  for  Spanish  help  to  their  cause,  were  pre- 
pared to  pay  it,  or  else  they  had  satisfied  themselves 
finally  that  Catholicism  could  never  depend  upon 
James,  and  they  were  determined  to  sacrifice  him. 
In  any  case,  their  new  departure  was  significant,  as 
it  brought  them  in  line  with  the  position  to  which 
the  Jesuits  had  led  Mary  Stuart  before  her  death, 
namely,  to  complete  dependence  upon  Spain. 

One  of  the  most  able  and  energetic  of  Father 
Persons'  recruits  to  his  famous  English  College  of 
St.  Alban  at  Valladolid  was  John  Cecil,  a  Master  of 
Arts  of  Oxford,  who  in  1589  had  been  sent  from 
Rome,  apparently  in  consequence  of  the  continued 
squabbles  in  the  English  Catholic  College  there. 
He  had  been  despatched  to  England  in  the  spring  of 
1 591,  and  had  thence  proceeded  to  Scotland,  where 
he  gained  the  confidence  of  Huntly,  and,  disguised 
as  a  soldier,  was  now  entrusted  with  an  important 
verbal  embassy  to  Spain.  ^     The  Catholic  Lords  had 

'  The  particulars  of  tliis  extraordinary  man's  life  up  to  this  period 
may  be  gathered  from  his  own  letters,  under  the  name  of  Snowden, 
at  Hatfield,  and  from  the  intercepted  or  stolen  letters  from  Father 
Persons,  respectively  to  Dr.  Barrett  and  to  Cecil  himself,  also  at  Hat- 
field. Although  he  had  heen  ordained  some  time  before  in  Rome,  and 
was  of  mature  age,  he  with  others  were  sent  for  a  year's  probation  to 
Valladolid,  to  prepare,  under  the  direction  of  Persons,  lor  the  English 
Mission.  Persons  w;is  very  anxious  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  his 
College,  and  strove  thus  to  attract  zealous  men  to  it,  in  order  that  its 
fame  might  be  spread  ;  and  he  gives  to  Dr.  Barrett  a  glowing  account 
of  these  missionaries  when  they  were  on  the  point  of  leaving  for 
England  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  v.  p.  69).  Fathers  Younger,  Blunt, 
Dudley,  Lockwood,  Rooke,  Salloway,  Walford,  and  Almond  were  sent 
to  England  from  various  Spanish  ports  (1591),  Cecil  and  Fixer,  to 
whom  a  special  political  mission  was  given,  being  des])atcheil  from 
Lisbon.  This  mission  was  no  other  than  to  sound  Lord  Derby  and 
his  son  as  to  their  willingness  to  accept  the  Pretendership  to  the 
English  crown.  Fatlier  Persons'  instructions  to  them  whilst  they 
were  still  at  Lisbon  are  now  at  Hattield,  having  been  doubtless  handed 


42  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

been  detected  on  each  occasion  that  they  had  sent 
either  written  communications  or  blanks  to  Spain. 
Robert  Bruce,  too,  had  played  them  false  and  be- 
trayed their  secrets,  and  on  this  occasion,  at  Whit- 
suntide 1593,  "the  disguised  one,"  as  they  called 
Cecil,  carried  his  intelligence  in  his  head  instead  of 
in  his  wallet ;  bearing  only  a  pre-arranged  token  of 
confidence  to  his  old  rector  at  Valladolid,  Robert 
Persons,  who,  it  was  known  in  Scotland,  was  Philip's 
principal  guide  in  the  affairs  of  England.  Ruffling 
in  doublet  and  trunks,  with  a  great  Flemish  rapier 
on  his  thigh,  "  a  strange  garb  for  his  profession,"  as 
he  says,  Cecil  came  to  Valladolid  in  July  1 593,  and, 
having  told  his  story  to  Persons,  was  instructed  to 
draw  up  a  statement  of  his  mission  in  writing  for 
submission  to  the  King.  The  document  is  an  in- 
structive one,  because,  amongst  other  things,  it 
explains   why  Father  Persons   had  suddenly^  been 

to  Lord  Burghley  on  tlieir  arrival,  as  both  Cecil  (under  the  name  of 
Snowden)  and  Fixer  offered  their  services  to  him  as  spies  at  once. 
Cecil  appears  to  have  gone  to  Lancashire  and  thence  to  Scotland,  but 
does  not  seem  to  have  had  any  information  to  give  to  his  namesakes  at 
that  time,  for  the  honourable  reasons  given  in  his  Snowden  letters  to 
Cecil,  though  he  bore  a  token  from  them  which  proved  that  he  was 
secretly  in  their  interests  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.).  There  is  also  a 
most  unflattering  contemporary  account  of  Cecil  in  Cardinal  Vaughan's 
Archives  at  Westminster  (vol.  viii.  p.  71).  He  was  subsequently  one  of 
the  most  active  apj^ellants  against  the  Archpriest's  authority  in  Eng- 
land, to  which  controversy  a  further  reference  will  be  made  on  a  subse- 
quent page.  Although  he  had  entered  the  Jesuit  College  at  Valladolid, 
it  is  evident  that  Cecil  continued  to  share  the  repugnance  of  most  of 
the  English  scholars  in  Rome  to  the  Jesuit  teachings  and  methods. 

1  According  to  Dingley's  confession  (State  Papers,  Domestic,  August 
1592),  Sir  \\  illiani  Stanley  had  been  told  by  Persons,  when  he  was  in 
Spain  in  the  previous  year,  that  "  the  King  had  at  last  yielded  to  his 
(Persons')  advice  to  attempt  first  against  England."  This  refers  to  the 
proposed  descent  on  the  Lancashire  coast,  which,  as  I  have  already 
pointed  out,    could  never  have  been  seriously  entered  upon  in  1592, 


SCOTTISH   INTRIGUES   IN   SPAIN        43 

brought  to  smile  on  the  Scottish  project.  Cecil 
gives  a  long  account  of  events  in  Scotland  following 
on  the  abortive  mission  of  Ker,  and  states,  for  the 
guidance  of  the  Spanish  King,  how  all  the  nobles 
and  country  stand  affected  to  the  cause,  both  in  the 
Highlands  and  the  Lowlands.  There  is  much 
abuse  of  the  ministers  and  other  Protestants,  who 
are  said  to  be  unpopular  and  in  a  minority,  and 
Philip  is  assured  that  "  the  nobles  and  people  are 
sick  of  this  tyranny  and  are  yearning  for  a  remedy, 
and  they  look  to  his  Majesty  {i.e.  Philip)  for  his 
help  to  restore  the  Catholic  faith."  James  is  re- 
presented—  truly  enough  —  as  weak,  mean,  and 
untrustworthy,  possessing  "  no  religion  or  fixed 
purpose  ;  "  and  it  is  evident  all  through  that  this 
plot,  at  all  events,  was  being  conducted  over  the 
Scottish  King's  head.  The  demands  of  the  Catho- 
lics was  that  3000  foot-soldiers  should  be  sent  from 
Spain  or  Brittany,  arms  for  as  many  more,  and 
stores  for  two  months.  They  were  assured  a  safe 
harbour  and  a  welcome  in  Lochryan ;  and  a  sum 
of  100,000  ducats  was  requested  for  the  payment 
of  the  Scottish  clansmen.  The  plan  was  at  once  to 
seize  the  King  and  capture  Edinburgh  and  CTlasgow, 
*'  which    they    think    will    be    very    easy."      "  They 

especially  as  Lord  Derby  was  not  even  sounded  as  to  his  co-operation 
— without  which  a  descent  upon  his  country  would  have  been  lolly — 
until  late  in  1593.  The  fate  of  the  unhappy  Richard  Hesketh,  when 
he  did  broach  the  subject  to  the  Earl,  conclusively  proved  tu  all 
concerned  that  Sir  William  Stanley  had  made  too  free  with  his  great 
kinsman's  name.  Whatever  Persons  may  have  thought,  ever\  thing 
tends  to  show  that  Philip  had  by  t'liis  time  lost  hope  of  conquering 
England  by  an  attack  on  the  coast,  though  he  would  naturally  en- 
deavour to  secure  a  diversion  by  a  feint  attack  by  sea,  and  by  arousing 
the  English  Catholics  to  co-operate  with  his  attack  from  Scotland. 


44  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

would  then  reduce  the  rest  of  Scotland,  and  expel 
or  capture  the  principal  heretics,  and  fortify  the 
castles,  which  are  all  now  utterly  unprovided.  After 
this  they  would  make  ready  to  resist  the  forces  of 
England."  They  recommended,  too,  that  the  traitor 
Sir  William  Stanley  should  be  sent  with  his  regi- 
ment of  Irish  and  English  Catholics  from  Flanders, 
and  a  diversion  is  also  suggested  by  a  simultaneous 
descent  of  the  rebel  Earl  of  Westmorland  and 
Lord  Dacre  on  the  east  coast  of  Scotland  at  Lord 
Seton's  port  near  Leith.  All  this  had  been  offered 
to  Philip  before,  and  had  met  with  no  ready  re- 
sponse. But  there  was  this  difference  on  this 
occasion,  that  instead  of  suggesting,  as  before,  that 
James  might  be  forced  or  persuaded  to  become  a 
Catholic,  Father  Cecil  says  :  "  Finally,  these  gentle- 
men are  sure  that,  with  his  Majesty's  help,  they  will 
capture  the  King  at  once,  and  will  deal  with  him  as 
his  Majesty  orde7^s."  ^ 

Persons  sent  "the  disguised  one"  with  his  state- 
ment to  see  Idiaquez,  the  King's  secretary.  "  He  is 
a  good  man,"  he  tells  him,  "  who  has  suffered  for  the 
cause,  and  full  credit  may  be  given  to  him."  "With 
regard  to  the  special  business  about  which  he 
comes,"  the  writer  reminds  Idiaquez,  "  I  have  fre- 
quently said  that  Scottish  and  English  affairs  might 
advantageously  be  taken  in  hand  jointly.  The 
difficulties  which  have  previously  presented  them- 
selves to  this  ivill  he  solved  by  the  message  of  this 
p7'iest."  And  then  Father  Persons  grows  quite 
enthusiastic  about  the  "  plan,"  which,  he  says,  will 
trouble  Elizabeth  more  than  anything  else  in  the 

1  Spanish  Calendar,  vol,  iv. 


THE   JESUITS   AND   SCOTLAND         45 

world.  We  shall  not  be  wronging  the  memory  of 
Father  Persons  by  suggesting  that  his  sudden  liking 
for  the  Scottish  Catholics'  plan  ^  arose  from  the  fact 
that  their  amended  programme  was  intended  to  shut 
the  door  for  ever  to  the  Scottish  domination  of 
England,  and  to  the  doubtful  "  conversion  "  of  James 
Stuart.  Father  Cecil  saw  Idiaquez  at  night  in 
Madrid,  and  pressed  him  to  move  Philip  to  send  the 
expedition    in    the    ensuing   winter ;    but   no    rapid 

^  Persons  had  been  ceaseless  in  his  eftbrts  to  frustrate  any  plan 
emanating  from  the  Scottish  Catholic  party,  or  intended  to  get  En<,dish 
affairs  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits.  The  Carthusians  had  been 
specially  active  in  seeking  a  modus  vivendi  for  English  Catholics,  and 
had  gained  the  powerful  support  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  and  liis  wife, 
the  Infanta  Catharine,  Philip's  second  daughter.  They  sent  the  Car- 
thusian prior,  Dr.  Arnold,  to  Madrid  in  1589  to  enlist  Philip  in  a 
proposal  to  work  in  Scotland  through  Chisholm,  the  Carthusian  Bishop 
of  Dunblane,  and  his  nephew,  the  Bishop  of  Vaison.  They  professed 
to  be  able  to  bring  James  to  the  side  of  Spain,  by  force  if  necessary. 
and  to  kill  the  Chancellor,  Maitland.  The  Bishop  of  Cassano  (Owen 
Lewis),  and  the  other  non-Jesuit  English  and  Scottisli  priests  in 
Italy  and  France,  were  at  tlie  bottom  of  the  intrigue,  which  included 
the  obtaining  of  a  cardinal's  hat  for  Lewis  and  the  sending  of  Savoy  and 
his  wife  to  Flanders  instead  of  Parma,  giving  them  the  management 
of  the  English  plans.  This  would  have  checkmated  the  Jesuits 
entirely,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  Persons  promptly  upset  the  plan 
by  persuading  Philip  that  the  only  person  who  would  benefit  would 
be  James.  At  a  somewhat  later  date  a  more  piomising  plan  with  a 
similar  object  was  nearly  successful,  as  it  had  the  active  a^jproval  of 
Allen,  and  most  of  the  English  malcontents  in  Flanders.  'I'he  pro- 
posal on  this  occasion  was  to  replace  Parma  in  the  government  of 
Flanders  by  the  extreme  Catholic  Duchess  of  Feria,  an  Englishwoman 
who  would  direct  the  English  Mission  from  Brussels.  Persons  frus- 
trated this  plan  also,  violently  denouncing  it  as  a  plot  devised  bv 
Thomas  Morgan  and  the  English  Government,  which  it  certainly  was 
not.  As  a  result,  Morgan  was  imprisoned  in  Brussels  as  a  spy,  and 
was  not  released  until  after  Parma's  death.  The  priest  Dingley,'in  his 
confession  when  captured  in  England  (1592),  said,  "Per.-^ons  is  really 
the  only  man  to  be  feared  by  England,  for  he  travailleth  the  King  so 
constantly.  If  Persons  were  removed  there  would  be  no  more  trouble." 
(See  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.,  and  State  Papers,  Domestic,  1592.) 


46  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

decision  could  be  obtained  from  the  slow-moving  old 
recluse,  whose  "  leaden  foot "  allowed  every  oppor- 
tunity to  fleet  past  him  uncaught ;  and  Father  Cecil, 
pray  as  he  might,  was  not  sent  back  until  the  winter. 
Persons,    who    knew    the    King's    mode    of   pro- 
ceeding,   suggested    from    the    first    that,    if    more 
information    was     needed,     a     confidential     person 
speaking  English  should   be  sent   back  with  Cecil 
to  Scotland,  to  report  on  his  return  the  true  condi- 
tion of  afi'airs.     Persons  suggested  William  Boden- 
ham,   a  member  of  a  well-known  Catholic  English 
family    settled    in    Seville ;    but    his    suggestion   for 
some    reason    M^as    not    adopted.     There    happened, 
however,  to  be  in  Madrid  at  the  time  one  William 
Randall,  a  native  of  Weymouth,  who  had  long  been 
settled  in  Philip's  town  of  Dunkirk,  there  busying 
himself  mainly   in   the    conveyance    of  priests    and 
Catholics  backwards  and  forwards  from  England  to 
the   Continent.     He   was    a    skilful    old   pilot,  who 
knew  every  creek  on  the  south  and  east  coasts  of 
England ;    and    when    the    English    and    Huguenot 
ships   were   together    in    Dieppe   harbour   in    1591, 
at   the   time   that   Henry  IV.    and   Essex   were   be- 
sieo'ins:   Rouen,   Randall   was    the    main   worker  in 
the  plot  to  burn  the  combined  fleets  by  "poisoned 
fireballs,"  the  compounding  of  which  he  had  learnt 
from  "  a  lame  old  villain  "  at  Dunkirk.     His  services 
had  been   enlisted  in   this  plot  by  the  little  group 
of  extreme  English  exiles  in  Flanders  who  favoured 
the  policy  of  personal  violence,  namely,  the  Jesuits 
Holt  and  Archer,  Sir  W.  Stanley,  Captain  Jaques, 
and    their    accomplices,    and    it    is    probable    that 
Randall's   visit  to  Madrid  in  the   summer  of   1593 


FATHER   CFXIL'S   RETURN  47 

was  for  the  purpose  of  forwarding  in  some  way  the 
views  of  this  section.  At  all  events,  it  was  he  who 
was  deputed  to  accompany  Father  ('ecil  and  a 
Spanish  officer  named  Forres  to  the  west  of  8coth\nd, 
in  order  to  report  respectively  on  the  harbour 
accommodation  offered  to  Philip,  and  the  miHtary 
resources  of  the  Catholic  nobles,  to  whom  assurances 
of  Spanish  aid  were  sent  by  Cecil  and  Forres  on 
condition  of  their  keeping  in  arms  against  the  Pro- 
testants. The  envoys  sailed  from  Spain  in  a  Breton 
barque,  and  appear  to  have  been  accompanied  by 
three  missioners  from  the  College  at  Valladolid. 
The  barque  was  beset  by  tempests  in  the  Channel, 
and  forced  to  take  refuge  in  Plymouth  Harbour,  in 
January  1594.  This  was  indeed  running  into  the 
lion's  mouth,  for  Sir  Francis  Drake  himself  was 
in  command  of  the  town,  and  he  had  a  short  way 
with  Spanish  emissaries  who  fell  into  his  hands. 
What  became  of  the  missioners  we  know  not;  pro- 
bably, like  others  of  their  kind  by  scores,  they 
languished  and  died  in  prison  ;  but  Father  Cecil, 
who  travelled  as  a  Scotsman,  was  able  to  satisfy 
Drake  and  his  colleagues  that  he  was  known  and 
trusted  by  his  powerful  namesake  in  London,  and 
both  he  and  Randall  w^ere  separated  from  their 
companions,  and  kept  in  private  custody  until 
orders  came  from  London.  Cecil  was  then  allowed 
quietly  to  go  on  his  way,  with  the  Spanish  officer  as 
his  servant,  whilst  William  Randall,  who  was  kept 
in  ignorance  still  of  Cecil's  real  character,  was  sent 
to  the  Gatehouse  prison,  hard  by  the  Abbey  of 
Westminster,  there  by  slow  degrees  to  have  his 
black  secrets   wrung  out   of  him   by  the   rack  and 


48  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

the  ingenuity  of  the  amiable  TopclifFe,  and  so  dis- 
appears from  the  scene. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  every  step  in  each 
conspiracy  was  perfectly  known  to  the  English 
Government  as  it  was  taken  ;  and  Father  Cecil, 
with  the  Spaniard  Porres,  met  the  Scottish  nobles 
with  the  full  connivance  of  Elizabeth's  Ministers, 
who  had  been  informed  weeks  before  that  Huntly, 
Errol,  and  Angus  had  made  their  peace  with  James, 
and  had  promised  him  to  submit  to  the  Kirk.^  Thus, 
at  this  juncture,  Elizabeth  was  far  better  informed 
than  James,  and  she  kept  in  her  hands  the  thread 
of  the  intrigue,  of  the  true  object  of  which  he  was 
in  ignorance.  The  scathing  letter  she  sent  to  him 
by  the  hand  of  Lord  Zouche,  in  reply  to  James's 
intimation  that  he  had  become  reconciled  to  the 
Earls,"^  therefore  assumes  for  us  a  deeper  meaning 
than  it  had  before.  "  To  see  so  much,"  she  begins, 
"  I  rue  my  sight,  that  views  the  spectacle  of  a 
seduced  king,  an  abusing  council,  and  a  wry-guided 
kingdom.  I  doubt  whether  shame  or  sorrow  had 
the  upper  hand  when  I  read  your  last  lines  to  me. 
.  .  .  There  is  no  prince  alive,  but  if  he  show  fear 
or  yielding,  shall  have  tutors  enough,  though  he  be 
out  of  minority.  And  when  I  remember  what  sore 
punishment  those  lewd  traitors  should  have,  then  I 
read  again,  lest  at  first  I  mistook  your  mind.  But 
when  the  reviewing  granted  my  lecture  true,  Lord  ! 
what  wonder  grew  in  me  that  you  should  correct 
them  with  benefits  who  deserve  much  severer  cor- 
rection. Could  you  please  them  more  than  save 
their   lives   and   make    them    shun    the    place    they 

^  James's  letter  to  Elizabeth,  December  7,  1593  (Camden  Society). 
2  Printed  in  extenso  in  Tytler's  "  History  of  Scotland." 


FATHER   CECIL   IN   SCOTLAND         49 

hate  (i.e.  the  Court)  .  .  .  and  yet  as  much  enjoy 
their  honours  and  livelihood  as  if  for  sporting 
travel  they  were  licensed  to  visit  other  countries? 
Call  you  this  banishment ! — to  be  rid  of  those 
whom  we  fear  and  let  them  go  to  those  they  love? 
Now  when  my  eyes  read  more,  then  smiled  I  to 
see  how  childish,  foolish,  and  witless  an  excuse  the 
best  of  either  three  made  you !  with  their  ite7ns  !  of 
expenses,  lacking  but  one  billet,  which  they  best 
deserved,  an  item,  for  so  much  for  the  cord  whose 
office  they  best  merited.  ...  I  never  heard  a  more 
deriding  scorn  ;  and  I  vow  that  if  but  this  alone, 
were  I  you,  they  should  learn  a  short  lesson.  For 
your  own  sake  play  the  king,  and  let  your  subjects 
see  you  respect  yourself,  neither  to  hide  or  to  sufifer 
danger  or  dishonour."  But  in  her  letter  Elizabeth 
said  nothing  to  indicate  her  knowledge  that,  even 
as  she  wrote,  the  Scottish  Catholic  Earls  were 
pledging  themselves  to  Cecil  and  Porres  to  take 
up  arms  again,  and  hand  the  two  realms  over  to 
the  Spaniards  ;  for  what  she  wanted  to  learn  was 
whether  James  the  Shifty  had  managed  again  to 
introduce  his  own  finger  into  the  pasty.  It  behoved 
her  to  watch  him  carefully,  for  a  powerful  Scottish- 
Spanish  force  crossing  her  northern  border,  where 
Catholicism  was  strongest,  might  well  mean  the 
destruction  of  her  glorious  life-work  and  of  Pro- 
testant England.  What  she  with  all  her  keenness 
failed  to  see,  because  she  could  not  follow  Philip's 
mind  as  we  can  who  have  his  secret  papers  before 
us,  was  that  the  moment  James  himself  joined  in 
the  Catholic  plans,  all  danger  to  England  from  Spain 
over  the  Scottish  Border  disappeared. 

D 


CHAPTEE   III 

Appeal  to  Spain  of  the  Irisli  Catholics — Meeting  of  the  Chiefs  in 
Donegal — The  Archbishop  of  Tuam's  mission  to  Spain — James 
sends  another  envoy  to  Spain — The  battle  of  Glenlivat — Walter 
Lindsay  in  Madrid — Suppression  of  the  Catholic  Lords  in  Scot- 
land— Their  renewed  apjDeal  to  Philip — Its  failure,  and  the 
reason  for  it. 

Whilst  the  intrigue  described  in  the  last  chapter 
was  in  progress,  with  the  intention  of  bringing 
Catholicism  and  the  Spanish  subjection  of  England 
across  the  Scottish  Border,  a  far  more  promising 
plan  was  ripening  elsewhere.  The  constant  efforts 
of  the  whole  of  the  Catholic  elements  in  Europe, 
except  the  Spanish  Jesuitical  party,  to  discover  a 
solution  of  the  difficulty  by  the  conversion  of  James 
Stuart ;  and  the  insincere  coquetting  of  the  King 
of  Scots  with  both  sides,  had  made  Philip,  with 
the  Jesuit  Persons  at  his  ear,  distrustful  and  reluc- 
tant to  accept  any  plan  for  the  English  subjection 
which  depended  upon  Scottish  pledges.  We  have 
seen  that  his  doubts  were  only  partly  overcome 
when  the  King  of  Scots  himself  was  entirely  ex- 
cluded from  the  conspiracy ;  and  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  remark  that  Philip  again  cooled  towards 
the  Scottish  plans  as  soon  as  James  had  once 
more  wormed  himself  into  the  heart  of  the  Catholic 
intrigue. 

But     no     such    misgivings    assailed    Philip    the 
Prudent's    mind    with    regard    to    Ireland.     There 


THE   IRISH    CATHOLICS  51 

there  was  no  king  finessing  to  obtain  the  reversion 
of  the  English  crown,  no  large  native  Protestant 
element  to  dispute  for  the  Government  if  once  the 
English  garrisons  were  overcome.  The  English  were 
practically  supreme  only  within  their  Pale  and  in 
the  walled  cities ;  and  the  introducticm  of  the 
English,  as  opposed  to  the  native  Irish,  rule  of 
succession  had  caused  the  existence  of  at  least  two 
claimants  to  nearly  every  great  estate  and  chieftain- 
ship. This,  whilst  it  gave  rise  to  perpetual  weaken- 
ing tribal  warfare,  and  secured  to  the  English  the 
adherence  of  at  least  some  members  of  each  of  the 
princely  families,  with  their  sub-lords  and  following, 
who  were  glad  to  have  their  lands  confirmed  to 
them  by  the  English  crown,  provided  also  a  rallying 
point  to  native  discontent  to  those  who  claimed 
and  held  their  lands  by  old  traditional  tenures 
which  every  Irish  kern  understood.  The  hand  of 
the  old  Irish  chieftain  had  been  sorely  hard  upon 
his  tenants  and  under-lords,  but  at  least  he  stood 
in  the  newer  order  of  things  under  Elizabeth,  for 
Irish  feeling  and  tradition,  and  for  the  Irish 
Catholic  faith,  against  foreign  governors,  whose 
rule  might  and  did  mean  greater  material  pros- 
perity, security,  and  independence  for  each  indi- 
vidual, but  who,  after  all,  were  not  Irishmen  and 
not  Catholics. 

The  Munster  rising  in  1579-80  had  clustered 
around  such  a  feeling  as  this  when  it  was  voiced 
by  James  Fitzmaurice-Fitzgerald.  At  that  time 
Philip  had  not  decided  upon  open  war  with  Eliza- 
beth, and  the  aid  he  sent  to  the  rebels  was  timid 
and  tardy,  intended  to  embarrass  Elizabeth,  not  to 


52  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

dominate  Ireland.  The  intervention  of  foreigners 
on  that  occasion  was  Papal  rather  than  Spanish, 
and  it  was  mainly  the  Nuncio's  prayers  and  Dr. 
Sanders'  religious  enthusiasm  that  drew  Philip  into 
the  matter  at  all.^  In  any  case,  the  whole  Papal 
force  was  slaughtered,  and  the  last  Desmond  rebellion 
was  suflPocated  in  blood.  The  boy-son  of  the  un- 
happy Earl,  who  had  been  dragged  into  the  rising 
against  his  own  interests,  was  being  bred  up  a 
prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London,  and  the  Catholic 
kin  of  James  Fitzmaurice  were  living  on  the  bounty 
of  Philip  in  Lisbon,  whilst  the  broad  domain  of  the 
Geraldines  was  forfeit  to  the  crown  of  England. 

Thus  matters  in  Ireland  remained  until  1592. 
The  English-bred  Earl  of  Tyrone  had  held  his  chief- 
tainship of  Ulster  under  the  Queen  for  some  years, 
quarrelling  occasionally  with  his  neighbours  and 
vassals — sometimes  even  bickering  with  the  Vice- 
roy— but  holding  the  north  fairly  peaceful  without 
much  interference.^  But  in  1592  relations  were  be- 
coming strained.  Tyrone  had  become  too  masterful 
to  remain  either  a  good  neighbour  or  a  good  vassal, 
and  constant  complaints  were  heard  against  him. 
His  young  son-in-law,  Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell,  heir 
of  the  great  chief  of  Tyrconnel,  was  a  prisoner  in 
Dublin  Castle  for  his  turbulence,  and  Tyrone  made 
suit  almost  fiercely   for  his  liberation,  but  without 

1  For  proof  of  this  see  original  letters  in  British  Museum,  MSS. 
Add.  28,420,  and  Spanish  Calendar,  vols.  ii.  and  iii. 

2  It  should  be  noted  that  Tyrone  had  no  right  to  the  chieftainship 
other  than  the  Queen's  grant.  Tirlough  Lenogh  O'Neil  was  the  chief- 
tain under  the  Irish  rule,  and  was  recognised  as  such.  The  son  of 
Shan  O'Neil,  who  had  a  better  title  to  succeed  to  the  chieftainship  than 
Tyrone  after  the  death  of  Tirlough,  was  killed  by  Tyrone. 


O'DONNELL   THE    RED  53 

effect.  In  the  summer  of  1592  O'Donnell  succeeded 
in  escaping  from  prison  and  hurried  down  to  his 
country  of  Donegal,  where  he  took  upon  himself 
the  chieftainship,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  his 
father  was  still  alive.  Leading  his  clansmen  against 
the  English  force  that  occupied  his  lands,  he  drove 
them  out  with  considerable  loss,  and  then  stood 
upon  the  defensive.  In  vain  the  Viceroy  threatened 
and  remonstrated  ;  in  vain  the  Queen  herself  wrote 
to  Tyrone  warning  him  that  he  must  keep  his 
warlike  son-in-law  in  order  or  punishment  would 
fall  upon  them  both.  O'Donnell  the  Red  stood  his 
ground  and  defied  the  Government.  Tyrone  knew 
the  English  better  than  O'Donnell  did,  and  was  less 
hot-headed.  He  was  not  ready  yet  to  brave  the 
whole  force  that  England  could  send,  and  began 
cautiously  to  cast  about  for  allies  whilst  professing 
lip-service  to  the  Queen.  Macguire  of  Fermanagh, 
who  claimed  his  lands  by  the  Irish  law,  had 
defied  the  Viceroy  to  displace  him.  MacMahon  of 
Monaghan  was  in  similar  case.  Brian  O'Rourke 
of  Connaught  —  he  of  the  Battleaxes  —  Oxford 
scholar  though  he  was,  was  discontented  because 
Elizabeth  refused  to  confirm  him  as  successor 
to  his  father — that  fine  old  chieftain,  Brian  of 
the  Ramparts,  whom  James  of  Scotland  had 
dishonourably  surrendered  to  Elizabeth  only  a 
year  or  two  before,  to  be  hanged  and  ripped  on 
Tyburn  tree.  So,  as  will  be  seen,  there  was  plenty 
of  discontent  upon  which  to  work  in  the  north  of 
Ireland.  During  the  depth  of  the  winter  of  1592, 
when  the  English  troops  were  snug  in  their  canton- 
ments,  the   chiefs   of   the   north   and  west    met   in 


54  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

conference  with  seven  Irish  Catholic  bishops,  upon 
one  of  whom,  M'Gavran,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  the 
Pope  had  just  conferred  the  Primacy  of  the  Irish 
Church.  There,  in  the  wilds  of  misty  Donegal,  for 
three  days  much  eloquence  and  fervour  were  ex- 
pended, and  vague  hopes  were  counted  upon  as 
certainties.  We  know  thus  much,  though  no 
report  exists  of  the  meeting,  because  a  spy  of 
Bingham  brought  him  the  news,^  and  we  can  see 
now,  as  Bingham  could  not,  how  much  was  true 
and  how  much  was  otherwise.  "  They  have  made 
some  great  dispatch  of  certain  letters  which  shall  be 
sent  out  of  hand  by  Bishop  O'Healy  (of  Tuam)  to 
the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Spain."  This  much  was 
true,  but  the  new  Primate  must  have  drawn  strongly 
upon  his  imagination  if  he  vouched  for  the  further 
information  attributed  to  him,  namely,  that  he  had 
accompanied  the  King  of  Spain  into  France^  with 

^  State  Papers,  Irish,  January  1593.  Sir  G.  Bingliam  to  Sir  R. 
Bingham. 

2  Archbishop  M'Gavran  had  recently  come  from  Rome  by  way  of 
Spain  ;  he  was  accompanied  by  another  Irish  bishop,  Cornelius  O'Neil 
of  Killaloe,  who  remained  at  Lisbon.  Whilst  tiie  Arciibishop  was 
staying  in  Madrid  (June  1591)  the  suggestion  of  an  expedition  from 
FeiTol  against  England,  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made  on 
page  37,  a]ipears  to  have  been  under  discussion.  The  Irish  regiment 
under  Sir  William  Stanley  was  to  have  had  a  large  share  in  the  busi- 
ness, and  the  Archbishop  appears  to  have  thought  that  the  liberation 
of  Ireland  was  one  of  its  objects.  Writing  to  Captain  Euh^tace  in 
Flanders  from  Madrid  in  June  1591  he  says,  "  I  hope  in  God  it  will  not 
be  long  eie  we  be  discharged  and  delivered  from  the  cruelty  of  those 
people  {i.e.  the  Saxons).  And  although  the  clergy  upon  further  con- 
sideration have  let  {i.e.  hindered)  the  Catholic  King  about  these  busi- 
nesses, I  doubt  not  but  tlie  people  and  soldiers  that  were  disposed 
to  succour  that  poor  island,  so  long  time  in  thraldom,  will  be  ready  ere 
long."  He  speaks  of  Philip  and  his  officers  as  being  slow,  and  says  that 
a  Spaniard  is  to  have  supreme  command  of  the  expedition  (Hatfield 
Papers,  vol.  iv.).     In  previous  pages  I  have  shown  how  unlikely  it  was 


THE    MEETING   AT   DONEGAL         SS 

his  daughter,  the  Infanta,  who  was  to  be  married 
to  the  Duke  of  Guise.  Also  "  that  the  King  of 
Spain  had  determined  to  send  two  armies  next 
summer,  the  one  to  England,  the  other  to  Ireland. 
The  army  for  Ireland  should  come  by  Scotland  and 
land  in  the  north  (of  Ireland) ;  but  their  (i.e.  the 
Spaniards)  only  want  was  to  have  some  great  man  to 
be,  as  it  were,  their  leader  or  general,  and  they  have 
now  thought  that  Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell  would  be  the 
fittest  man."  Alas  !  for  Irish  hopes.  Philip  II.  was  not 
in  the  habit  of  making  up  his  mind  thus  rapidly.  His 
thirst  for  information  and  for  pledges  binding  others 
before  he  bound  himself  meant  many  weary  voyages 
backwards  and  forwards  for  years  to  come,  and  Irish 
hopes,  sanguine  as  ever,  were  doomed  to  many  dis- 
appointments before  armies  and  fleets  were  possible. 
It  was,  moreover,  as  we  have  seen,  by  no  means  easy 
for  Philip,  overburdened  with  debt  and  demands  as 
he  was,  to  muster  and  provision  large  forces  in  a 
poverty-stricken  country  like  Spain,  almost  without 
roads  and  cursed  with  such  a  cumbrous  administra- 
tion as  his.  If  the  alarmist  reports  of  Irish  spies  were 
to  be  believed,  the  whole  matter  was  settled,  and  a 
powerful  invasion  of  England  by  Spain  was  already 
being  prepared  on  the  first  cry  for  help  from  the 
Ulster  chiefs.  This,  as  we  know  now,  was  far  from 
being  the  case,  and  we  must  turn  to  the  State  Papers 
at  Simancas  to  see  what  really  happened. 

Archbishop    OTIealy    does    not    appear    to    have 

that  the  preparations  in  Ferrol  in  1592  were  ever  seriously  intended  by 
I'hilip  for  an  attack  in  force  upon  England,  although  it  was  Lis  policy 
to  keep  the  English  in  alarm  by  pretending  that  it  was,  and  the  vapour- 
ing of  Stanley  and  the  Irislinien  in  Flanders  was  doubtless  encouraged, 
to  give  additional  strength  to  the  rumour. 


S6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

sailed  from  Ireland  until  the  beginning  of  April, 
and  probably  went  first  to  Rome,  as  he  did  not 
arrive  in  Madrid  before  August  1593.^  The  note 
of  his  mission  is  struck  by  a  letter  he  carried  from 
O'Donnell  to  the  exiled  Geraldines,  Viscount  Baltin- 
glas,  and  other  Irish  Catholics  in  Lisbon.'  The 
letter  was  forwarded  to  the  exiles  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Archbishop  in  Madrid,  and  runs  thus  : — 
"Donegal,  8th  April  1593. — You  will  have  heard, 
my  dear  friends,  how  I  have  contrived  to  escape  the 
jail  and  fetters  in  which  I  lay ;  and  how,  after  great 
travail  and  difficulty,  I  came  to  my  own  lands,  where 
I  found  an  English  personage,  a  minister  of  the 
Queen,  with  many  soldiers,  whom,  by  the  divine 
grace,  I  have  killed  and  cast  out  of  my  land  in  a 
very  short  time,  and  the  English  have  returned  no 
more  ;  not  for  want  of  will  to  destroy  me  and  do 
all  the  harm  they  can.  But  I,  and  the  others  who 
joined  with  me,  although  we  are  doing  the  best  we 
can  to  defend  ourselves,  can  hardly  hold  out  against 
the   great   power   of  England,   unless   we    get  help 

1  It  is  curious,  as  showing  the  duplicity  of  Tyrone,  and  the  equally 
sanguine  and  unfounded  hopes  of  prompt  Spanish  aid  being  sent, 
that  the  earl,  writing  to  tlie  Lord-Deputy  of  Ireland  in  May  1593 
(two  months  before  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  even  arrived  in  Madrid), 
informs  him,  as  one  of  the  reasons  for  not  meeting  the  Lord-Deputy 
as  requested,  that  "  The  traitorous  bishops  have  assured  upon  letters 
which  some  have  lately  received,  that  the  Spaniards  will  be  here  by 
the  20th  July  at  farthest,  and  so  they  give  out,  with  every  show  of 
joy"  (Irish  State  Papers,  May  1593). 

2  Standin,  an  English  Catholic  in  the  Spanish  service,  who  became 
a  spy-a^ent  for  Essex,  wrote  that  a  week  before  he  left  Madrid  in 
April  1593,  Baltinglas  and  John  of  Desmond,  with  eight  Irish  follow- 
ers, had  arrived  there  from  Lisbon,  presumably  to  urge  Philip  to  in- 
tervene in  Ireland.  A  man  from  Ireland  was  known  to  have  been 
closeted  with  the  King  a  few  weeks  before,  and  it  was  suggested, 
though  questioned,  that  he  had  offered  to  betray  to  the  Spaniards 
the  town  of  Galway  (Birch). 


IRISH    MISSION   TO    SPAIN  57 

from  his  Catholic  Majesty.  With  the  common 
consent  of  them  all,  therefore,  we  have  thought 
well  to  send  the  Archbishop  of  Tnam  (mnch  as  we 
need  him  here)  to  treat  with  his  Majesty  of  this, 
and  to  carry  to  you,  gentlemen,  who  are  there,  our 
letters,  begging  you  all  to  come  and  help  us  to  fight 
God's  battle,  and  win  back  our  lands.  It  is  meet 
that  we  should  understand  each  other  well,  and 
help  one  another  in  this  matter.  I  myself  will  do 
my  part  to  the  death,  with  the  help  of  the  succour 
I  hope  from  his  Majesty,  and  with  your  presence 
and  help.  God  be  with  ye  ;  and,  pray,  hurry  the 
Archbishop  back  with  an  answer.  From  Donegal, 
this  8th  April  1593.— Ardh.  O'Donnaill." '  This 
letter  reached  Lisbon  on  the  3rd  September,  and 
on  the  following  day  the  courier  was  speeding  back 
again  to  Madrid  with  fervent  letters  from  Sir  Maurice 
Fitzgerald "  and  the  Bishop  of  Killaloe  to  the  King 
of  Spain,  beseeching  him  to  send  aid  to  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland.  That  of  the  Irish  exiled 
gentleman  is  worth  transcribing.  "Maurice  Geral- 
dine,  heir  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  and  the  other 
Irish  gentlemen  in  your  Majesty's  service  here,  have 
received  letters  by  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  who  is 
now  in  your  Majesty's  court,  from  the  most  power- 
ful Catholics  in  Ireland,  saying  that  they  are  con- 
certing a  war  against  the  Queen  of  England,  and 
they  beg  us  to  supplicate  your  Majesty  to  send  them 
succour  with  the  utmost  possible  speed.  We  know 
that  these  gentlemen  are  Catholics,  and  are  at  the 
present  time  the  most  powerful  people  in  Ireland  ; 

*  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 

2  Sir  Maurice    Fitzj^erald   and    Sir   Thomas   Fitzgerald  had   been 
salaried  officers,  unattached,  on  the  Armada. 


58  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

and  seeing  that  they  voluntarily  risk  their  lives  to 
serve  God  and  your  Majesty,  we   have   decided   to 
beseech   your   Majesty,   for   the   love   of   God,   and 
with  the  utmost  earnestness  of  which  we  are  cap- 
able, to   favour  us  all  by  looking  down  upon  their 
need  and  sending  them   such  aid  as   may  be  con- 
sidered advisable.     We  also   beg  to  be  allowed  to 
go  with  it,  to  defend  and   support   the   enterprise ; 
and    we    trust,   with   the    divine    favour,   that    your 
Majesty  will  be  victorious,  and  conquer  for  yourself 
the  realm  of  Ireland,  and  then  by  this  mea7is  enter 
into  England.     It  would  be  a  great  pity  for  these 
gentlemen  to  be   lost  for  lack   of  succour,   as    the 
Earl   of  Desmond   was    when    he    rose    like    these. 
We  trust  in  God  that  your  Majesty   will   consider 
well  the  advantage  that  will  ensue  to  Christendom 
from  this  business.     The  conjuncture  is  favourable, 
the  cause  is  just,  and  all  are  disposed  to  do  good 
service.       If  promptness   be  displayed,   the    Queen 
must  withdraw  the  contingents  she  keeps  in  Flan- 
ders and  France,  and  there  will  be  fewer  English- 
men on  the  coasts  of  Spain.     We  humbly  beg  your 
Majesty  to    favour   the    enterprise.      We    ourselves 
are  ready  to  do  anything. — Lisbon,  4th  September. 
Don  Maurice  Geraldine."     Before  this,  and  a  similar 
letter  from  the  Bishop  of  Killaloe,^  who  was  also  in 
Lisbon,  arrived  in  Madrid,  the  Archbishop  had  gone 
through  the  usual  process  of  sifting  from  the  King's 
secretary,  Don  Juan  de  Idiaquez,  in  order  that  the 
latter  might  discover,  for  his  master's  guidance,  how 
much  "  foundation,"  as  he  was  wont  to  call  it,  there 

1  This  bishop,  Cornelius  O'Neil,  had  saved  and  forwarded  to 
Scotland  many  of  the  men  wrecked  from  the  Armada  on  the  Irish 
coast. 


IRISH    MISSION   TO    SPAIN  59 

was  in  the  Irish  revolt.  It  must  be  noted  that  not 
a  word  is  said  throughout  the  Archbishop's  docu- 
ments about  Tyrone.  He  was  workini^-  still  in  the 
background  ;  and  in  the  statement  finally  handed  by 
the  Archbishop  to  Philip  II.  the  revolted  nobles  are 
named  as  O'J^onnell,  Macguire,  and  Brian  O'llonrke. 
The  Archbishop  in  his  conference  with  the  King 
ascribed  to  himself  the  principal  merit  of  the  rising. 
"  For  years  past,"  he  said,  "  he  had  used  great  efforts 
both  publicly  and  privately  to  unite  the  Catholics  of 
Ireland,  with  the  object  of  their  taking  up  arms  for 
the  faith,  and  in  your  Majesty's  service,  against  the 
English  heretics.  His  enterprise  has  succeeded,  and 
the  most  powerful  chiefs  of  the  north  of  Ireland 
have  now  agreed,  and  have  risen  against  the  Queen, 
with  the  tacit  consent  of  many  other  Catholics,  who 
would  like  to  do  the  same."  He  then  prayed  that 
prompt  Spanish  aid  should  be  sent.  "  The  gentle- 
men who  had  risen,"  he  assured  the  King,  "  have 
in  their  territories  good  harbours  and  troops  at 
their  command,  and  any  help  sent  to  them  would 
render  the  Queen  of  England  powerless  for  harm. 
O'Donnell,  he  told  Philip,  had  sixty  Irish  miles 
of  land  on  the  sea-coast,  with  splendid  harbours 
capable  of  sheltering  the  greatest  navies  afloat. 
He  could  raise  3000  men  of  his  own  vassals,  and 
his  kinsmen  in  Scotland  would  help  him  with  more. 
Macguire  had  forty  miles  of  land,  and  could  raise 
2000  of  his  kerns,  whilst  Bernard  (i.e.  Brian) 
CRourke,  "  whose  father  on  his  way  to  Scotland 
for  help  was  unfortunately  captured  by  the  English 
and  decapitated,"^  could  "raise   1000  men,  and  no 

'  It  was  decidedly  cool  of  young  Brian  of  the  Battleaxes  to  make 


6o  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

more,  because  the  English  after  killing  his  father  had 
devastated  his  lands.  The  lands  of  the  three  chiefs 
together  can  furnish  600  horse."  But  the  Arch- 
bishop seems  to  have  attached  most  importance  to 
the  raising  of  Munster  by  the  two  exiled  Geral- 
dines,  Maurice  and  Thomas,  in  Philip's  pay,  and 
a  similar  call  to  arms  of  Leinster  on  the  part  of 
Viscount  Baltinglas  and  Sir  Charles  O'Connor,  who 
were  also  pensioned  exiles  in  Spain ;  "  and  this 
would  be  easy  with  but  few  men,  as  the  country  is 
easily  defensible,  and  particularly  one  valley,  which 
a  few  soldiers  could  hold  against  the  world."  The 
Burkes  of  Connaught,  too,  the  sanguine  Archbishop 
thought,  would  supply  1000  men  to  the  combined 
forces  :  "  and  finally,  nearly  all  Irishmen  are  against 
the  English,  and  wish  to  get  rid  of  such  evil 
neighbours."  The  armed  contingent  requested  was 
from  5000  to  10,000  soldiers,  as  many  as  possible  ; 
and  the  chiefs  promised  to  welcome  them  with  at 
least  6000  Irish  foot  and  600  horse. 

When  the  Archbishop  left  the  King's  chamber 
from  the  conference  this  is  what  Philip  scrawled, 
in  that  appalling  hand  of  his,  on  a  note  attached 
to  the  Irish  letters  and  statements.  The  note  was 
to  the  secretary  Idiaquez — "Here  are  the  letters 
and  notes  that  the  Irish  Archbishop  has  just  given 
me.  And  if  what  they  say  is  true  it  would  be  a 
great  pity  not  to  help  them.  What  they  demand 
in  one  of  the  letters  is  very  much,  and  would  be 
so  if  it  were  less  than  it  is.     You  (Idiaquez)  talk  to 

this  a  subject  for  grievance.  He  wrote  to  tlie  Privy  Council  (April  3, 
1592)  only  a  year  before  saying  that  his  father  had  been  fittingly 
punished  for  his  fractiousness.  Brian's  real  grievance,  like  that  of 
Macguire,  was  that  Elizabeth  hesitated  to  confirm  his  chieftainship. 


PHILIP   AND   THE    IRISH  6i 

him  and  get  to  the  bottom  of  it  all,^  and  then  we 
will  see  what  is  the  very  smallest  aid  that  will  be 
needed.  If  it  be  so  small  that  we  can  give  it,  it 
will  be  well  to  help  them.  Let  Don  Cristobal  (i.e. 
De  Moura,  the  other  secretary)  know  what  you  do 
in  the  matter."  It  is  evident  from  this  hesitating 
note  that  the  great  armies  and  fleets  which  Philip 
was  to  send  to  Ireland  and  Scotland  at  this  time 
(September  1593)  were  conjured  up  mainly  by  the 
hopes  of  conspirators  who  knew  little  of  the  Spanish 
King's  methods,  or  by  the  eagerness  of  spies  to 
justify  the  expenses  they  incurred.  Whoever  else 
may  have  been  deceived,  the  Cecils  and  Queen 
Elizabeth  certainly  were  not.  Father  Cecil  was  in 
Madrid  at  the  same  time  as  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam,  and  we  may  be  perfectly  sure  that  he  knew 
and  conveyed  to  England  pretty  accurately  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  Irish  demands  and  the  reception  of 
them  by  Philip."  The  efficient  French  spy  Chateau 
Martin  in  Bayonne,  moreover,  continued  to  send  to 
Lord  Burghley   correct  accounts   of  Spanish  arma- 

1  One  of  the  results  of  the  conference  between  Idiaquez  and  the 
Archbishop  is  seen  in  a  note  from  the  former  to  the  King  (Simancas 
MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.)  saying  that  "  The  Irish  Archbishop 
says  that  it  will  be  of  great  importance  for  the  success  of  the  con- 
federacy of  Irish  Catholics  that  your  Majesty  should  write  very 
affectionately  to  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  whose  name  is  O'Neil,  to  induce 
him  to  enter  openly  into  the  confederacy.  He  already  belongs  to  it 
secretly,  and  he  should  be  assured  that  your  Majesty's  aid  shall  not 
fail  them.  The  Archbishop  consequently  begs  your  Majesty  to  order 
a  letter  to  be  written  to  the  Earl  to  that  effect."  This  admission  would 
be  quite  sufficient  to  cause  Philip  to  delay  action  until  Tyrone's 
open  adhesion  was  gained. 

2  As  early  as  the  i8th  September,  an  Irish  merchant,  J.  Byrne,  of 
Drogheda,  who  had  just  returned  from  Spain,  reported  to  Bingham 
that  "  O'Healy,  a  priest  or  bisliop,  had  arrived  in  Spain  to  solicit  forces 
to  maintain  Macguire  in  his  rebellion." 


62  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

ments  and  their  destinations,  mainly  the  coast  of 
Brittany  and  the  south-west  of  France ;  and  to 
describe  the  prostration  and  feebleness  of  Philip. 
To  such  a  depth  of  impotence,  indeed,  had  Spain 
already  fallen,  that  approaches  were  made  in  October 
by  Philip's  authority  to  Lord  Burghley,  through 
Chateau  Martin,  ofiering  as  a  basis  for  peace  nego- 
tiations between  the  countries  that  the  English 
should  have  full  liberty  to  trade  in  all  the  Spanish 
dominions,  if  the  depredations  of  the  English  cor- 
sairs upon  Spanish  shipping  should  cease.  But 
Burghley  saw  and  noted  that  commerce  was  no 
longer  the  main  subject  at  issue.  Any  negotia- 
tions that  did  not  exclude  Spain  from  Holland  and 
Brittany  were  foredoomed  to  failure,  and  the  sug- 
gestion came  to  nothing.^  But  the  fact  that  it  was 
made  shows  how  wide  of  the  mark  the  alarmist 
reports  of  the  spies  were  at  this  juncture.^ 

1  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv. 

^  For  instance,  Orme  reports  to  Lord  Burghley,  I5tli  December  1593, 
that  he  had  recently  heard  at  Rouen  "from  Shelton,  a  papistical  rebel, 
that  the  Spanish  Armada  would  be  ready  to  sail  fifteen  days  previ- 
ously, but  whether  for  Brittany,  Ireland,  or  Scotland  was  unknown" 
(Domestic  S.  P.  of  the  date).  From  other  sources  we  now  know  that 
the  only  armament  Philip  had  at  the  time  ready  or  in  preparation, 
except  for  defence,  were  sixteen  ships  at  Pasages,  intended  to  carry  re- 
inforcements of  2000  men,  three-quarters  of  whom  were  recruits,  and 
building  materials  for  fortifications,  the  destination  being  Blavet,  in 
Brittany.  A  few  weeks  later  (January  1594)  the  spy  Moody,  at 
Brussels,  wrote  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.)  that  since  the  wars  with 
France  began  the  Spanish  army  was  never  so  great  as  it  will  be  in  three 
months'  time  :  "  so  great  as  we  here  do  not  see  how  they  will  be  em- 
ployed except  it  be  for  England."  He  adds  that  5000  Spaniards  had 
lately  landed  in  Brittany  (which  was  untrue),  and  that  fifty  sail,  with 
10,000  men,  had  arrived  near  Boi'deaux,  "which  are  to  go  to  Scotland." 
"  I  assure  you  the  expectation  for  England  was  never  so  great  as  at  this 
present."  Tlie  English  Catholic  refugees  in  Flanders  seem,  indeed,  to 
have  principally  amused  themselves  by  exaggerating  the  power  of 
Spain  and  the  danger  of  England,  which  suited  Philip  exactly. 


THE   IRISH    CONSPIRACY  63 

As  soon  as  the  Geraldines  in  Lisbon  had  news  of 
the  position  of  affairs  in  Ireland  by  the  Archbishop's 
letters,  they  sent  a  follower  of  theirs,  one  John 
Slatimor,  to  report  on  the  feeling  in  Munster  and 
Leinster  towards  the  revolt.  But  an  Anglo-Irish 
spy  in  Bilbao — one  Patrick  Comerford — was  able 
to  send  particulars  of  his  mission  to  Ireland  before 
Slatimor  sailed,  and  the  footsteps  of  the  latter  were 
dogged  with  a  warrant  for  his  arrest  wherever  he 
went.  He  was,  however,  fortunate  in  being  able  to 
elude  his  pursuers,  and  returned  to  Spain  before  the 
Archbishop  of  Tuam  left,  giving  Philip  a  vivid 
picture  of  the  determination  of  the  Irish  Catholics, 
and  the  confusion  and  ineptitude  of  the  English 
attempts  to  crush  the  budding  revolt.  There  were, 
he  said,  4000  Irishmen  in  arms  against  the  Queen 
in  Ulster,  of  whom  1000  were  harquebusiers  ;  and 
the  English  forces  had  been  rendered  powerless  by 
dissensions.  The  response  of  the  Irish  contingents 
to  the  English  summons  had,  moreover,  been  dis- 
appointing, and  the  Viceroy  stood  upon  the  defen- 
sive until  fresh  troops  came  from  England.  "The 
principal  gentlemen  of  Munster  have  sent  to  Sir 
Maurice  and  Sir  Thomas  Geraldine  to  say  secretly 
that  they  are  ready  to  rise  against  the  English  at  any 
moment,  if  the  exiles  will  come  to  their  aid  ; "  and 
a  similar  message  was  sent  to  Viscount  Baltinglas 
from  his  friends  and  allies,  notably  Feagh  M'Hugh 
(O'Byrne),  "  who  can  do  great  harm  to  the  English, 
as  he  has  some  strong  places  on  his  lands  ;  especially 
one  famous  valley,  where  fifteen  soldiers  with  plenty 
of  ammunition  could  hold  the  place  against  the 
world."   "  Our  people,"  Slatimor  reported  to  the  King, 


64  TREASON  AND   PLOT 

"  are  anxiously  awaiting  the  reply  (i.e.  of  Philip), 
and  are  full  of  hope  and  energy.  The  affairs  of 
Ireland  are  now  in  such  a  condition  that  if  his 
Majesty  will  send  prompt  and  powerful  aid,  great 
effect  will  be  produced.  The  Queen  will  be  kept 
busy  at  home,  with  small  cost  to  his  Majesty. 
In  order  to  keep  the  war  alive  it  will  be  well 
to  send  at  once  some  arms  and  ammunition, 
especially  harquebuses  and  powder ;  and  one  of 
the  Irish  gentlemen  in  his  Majesty's  pay  should  be 
sent  thither  to  animate  them  with  his  presence." 
The  Archbishop  of  Tuam  was  also  warned  that  the 
English  were  on  the  watch  to  intercept  and  arrest 
him  on  the  voyage  home.^  Whether  they  succeeded 
in  this  is  unknown.  The  Archbishop  sailed  in  the 
winter  for  Ireland,  with  encouraging  messages  and 
promises  to  the  chiefs  in  arms,  and  a  flattering  letter 
from  the  King  himself  to  Tyrone  ;  but  no  more  was 
ever  heard  of  him,  and  neither  the  prelate  nor  his 
letters  ever  reached  Ireland.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
King  of  Scots  was  making  desperate  attempts  to 
regain  touch  of  the  Spanish  intrigues  of  his  Catholic 
nobles.  Father  Cecil  and  Porres  found  on  their 
arrival  in  Scotland,  early  in  1594,  that  James's  diplo- 
macy or  his  sympathies  had  already  attracted  to  his 
side  again  many  of  the  Catholics.  The  treason  of 
Bothwell  (who  at  the  time  was  called  a  Protestant 
and  an  English  partisan,  though  he  shortly  after- 
wards changed  sides  and  joined  Huntly)  in  seizing 
and  holding  the  King  in  durance  in  the  autumn, 
had   led    James    again    to     surround    himself  with 

1  Slatimor  also  reports  that  tlie  English  have  discovered  and  are 
working  a  rich  silver  mine  near  Wexford.     Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


JAMES   AGAIN   IN   THE    PLOT  6^ 

Catholics  and  enemies  of  the  Stuart  faction.  In 
December  1593,  we  are  told  by  a  gossip  at  the 
English  court,  that  there  was  much  talk  of  James 
going  to  Mass  ;  and  that  "  Lord  Hume,  a  remark- 
able Papist  of  the  realm,  lay  in  that  King's  pallet."  ^ 
But  the  presence  of  Lord  Zouche  in  Scotland  and 
Elizabeth's  constant  pressure  had  so  far  prevented 
the  complete  reconciliation  between  the  King  and 
the  three  great  rebel  Catholic  Earls,  whose  promised 
submission  to  the  Kirk  was  still  unfulfilled.  He 
was  drawn  closer  to  them  soon  after  the  cominir  of 
Father  Cecil  and  Porres  by  another  bold  attempt 
of  Bothwell  to  seize  his  person ;  and  the  Earls, 
encouraged  by  the  promises — and,  it  is  asserted,'^ 
also  money — sent  to  them  by  the  hand  of  Porres, 
assumed  an  increasingly  threatening  attitude  to- 
wards the  Protestants,^  once  again  mustering  their 
followers,  in  accordance  with  the  message  sent  to 
them  from  Spain,  and  bidding  defiance  to  the  ex- 
communications of  the  Scottish  Church,  the  sentence 
of  confiscation  and  death  passed  upon  them  by  the 
Scottish  Parliament,  and  the  real  or  pretended  ful- 
minations  against  them  by  the  Scottish  King. 

^  Antony  Standen,  Birch's  "  Memoirs  of  Elizabeth." 

^  Robertson. 

^  Dr.  Morrison,  the  Earl  of  Essex's  agent  in  Scotland,  wrote  in 
November  1593  that  credible  intelligence  had  just  arrived  that  the 
King  of  Spain  was  preparing  vast  armaments  for  next  spring.  The 
King  of  Scots,  he  continued,  had  so  strong  a  desire  to  avenge  himself 
upon  Bothwell,  that  he  gave  himself  no  rest.  But  finding  that  all 
persons  wished  well  to  Bothwell  except  the  Papists,  the  King  was 
obliged  to  make  use  of  the  latter,  who  were  extremely  glad  of  his 
Majesty's  confidence,  and,  under  that  pretence,  pursued  their  own 
interests  and  those  of  Popery  (Birch).  It  was  probably  not  so  much 
James's  desire  for  vengeance  against  Bothwell,  as  to  insinuate  himself 
into  the  Spanish  scheme  again  that  drew  him  to  Huntly  and  his  friends. 

E 


66  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

James  must  have  been  fully  informed  by  this  time 
of  the  mission  of  Father  Cecil  to  Spain,  and  his 
counter-stroke  was  to  send  an  envoy  of  his  own  to 
Madrid,  and  to  make  a  great  show  of  negotiation  with 
Philip,  in  order  to  prevent  any  action  being  taken 
in  Scotland  over  his  head.  "  II  y'a  grande  com- 
munication entre  les  rois  d'Ecosse  et  d'Espagne," 
writes  Chateau  Martin  in  March  1594,  and  a  few 
days  later  he  repeated  the  information  to  Burghley. 
Elizabeth  was  extremely  indignant  to  hear  this,  and 
wrote,  in  her  vigorous  way,  to  James  :  *'  I  do  avowe 
that  if  you  do  aught  by  forainers  ;  which  I  do  know 
in  end  worse  for  yourself  and  country,  hit  shall  be 
the  worst  aide  that  ever  king  had,  and  I  fear  may 
make  me  do  more  than  you  will  call  back  in  haste."  ^ 
But  the  money  she  promised  to  James  to  help  him 
to  put  down  the  Catholic  Earls  and  hold  his  own 
without    Spanish   support  might   have   been    spared 

1  Elizabeth  to  James,  May  i8,  1594  (Camden  Society).  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  belief  that  James  had  ojiened  communications 
with  Spain  was  true,  although  it  is  clear  that  his  approaches  would 
never  have  moved  Philip.  R.  Douglas,  writing  from  Whitting- 
hame,  8th  June  15Q4,  to  his  uncle,  Sir  Archibald  Douglas,  the  Scots 
ambassador  in  England,  refers  to  a  rumour  that  a  barque  had  come  to 
Scotland  from  Spain  with  a  money  subsidy.  "As  concerning  the  gold 
which  was  thought  to  have  come  to  our  (rebel)  Lords,  I  have  been 
curious  to  know  the  truth  thereof  ;  but  ye  shall  believe  me  there  was 
no  such  thing  ;  for  in  the  bark  there  were  only  three  passengers,  a 
Spaniard,  a  Scotsman,  and  an  English  priest,  who  I  hear  has  gone  to 
Enghmd  by  our  borders.  The  Spaniard  had  a  message  to  the  King 
with  large  offers  ;  but  has  not  appeared,  seeing  the  time  not  proper; 
and  large  promises  he  has  made  to  these  Lords  of  money  and  any  other 
help  they  can  crave  against  that  country  {i.e.  England).  This  is  all  I 
can  learn  of  the  matter."  It  is  not  certain  whether  this  refers  to  the 
arrival  of  Cecil  and  Porres  in  the  country  some  months  previously,  or 
to  the  mission  of  Colonel  Semple,  who  went  from  Spain  to  Scotland 
about  this  time  with  some  handsome  presents  from  Philip  to  James 
and  his  wife,  but  the  intelligence  proves  the  general  belief  that  James 
was  intriguing  with  Spain  at  the  same  time  as  the  Catholic  Earls. 


THE    BATTLE   OF   GLENLIVAT         67 

(as  in  the  end  it  probably  was,  but  for  other  reasons) 
if  the  English  Queen  had  known  how  complete  an 
antidote  was  James  himself  to  the  intrigues  in  Spain 
of  the  Scottish  Catholics.  Whatever  else  might 
happen,  it  was  quite  certain  that  Philip  would  never 
spend  a  ducat  or  sacrifice  a  trooper  to  benefit  him. 
This  was  perhaps  the  reason  why,  althougli  Huntly 
and  his  friends  were  in  open  rebellion,  and  had  thus 
fulfilled  the  conditions  upon  which  Spanish  suj)port 
was  to  be  sent  to  them,  month  followed  month  and 
still  no  aid  from  Spain  came,  though  the  Catholics 
depending  upon  Philip  looked  for  it  from  day  to 
day.^ 

James  was  powerless  with  his  own  forces  alone 
to  put  down  the  rising,  even  if  he  was  really  inclined 
to  do  so ;  but  by  the  autumn  he  could  no  longer 
resist  the  pressure  of  England  and  his  Protestant 
subjects,  and  was  obliged  to  make  a  show  of  bring- 
ing the  rebels  to  obedience.  The  Campbells  aud 
the  Forbeses  had  old  tribal  feuds  with  them,  and 
to  those  clans  James  gave  his  commission  to  Invade 
the  lands  of  the  Catholic  peers.  Young  Argyll,  a 
boy  of  eighteen,  commanded  the  Protestant  army  of 
7000  men,  and  met  the  small  force  of  1500  Gor- 
dons aud  Lowlanders  under  Iluntly  and  Errol  at 
Glenlivat  in  October  1594. 

'  Foulis  writes  from  Edinburgh  to  Antony  Bacon  (Bircli's  "Eliza- 
beth"), in  July  1594.  urging  the  need  for  Elizabeth  to  help  James  with 
money.  "  It  is  necessary  that  he  {i.e.  James)  be  sati>fied  .  .  .  and  in 
time,  for  the  Papists  begin  to  sliow  tliemselves.  The  three  Earls  liave 
six  or  seven  hundred  men  in  the  Held,  and  expect  to  receive  forces  from 
Spain  very  soon.  It  is  thought  that  lo  or  12  sail  (z>.  of  Spa  iiards)are 
already  at  sea.  The  King  (James)  had  troops  enough  to  keep  the  Earls 
quiet,  but  wanted  money." 


68  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

"  Maccallum  More  cam'  f  rae  the  west 
Wi'  mony  a  bow  and  brand  ; 
To  waste  the  Rhinnes  he  thought  best, 
The  Earl  o'  Hnntlie's  land. 
He  swore  that  nane  should  him  gainstand 
Except  that  they  were  fey, 
But  a'  should  be  at  his  command 
That  dwalt  by  north  o'  Tay." 

But  alas  !  for  the  young  chieftain's  boasting ;  for, 
as  the  ancient  ballad  tells  with  tedious  minuteness, 
the  "Gay  Gordons,"  with  their  little  force,  had  cannon, 
of  which  the  wild  Campbell  Highlanders  knew  but 
little,  and  they  routed  Argyll  completely/ 

"Now  I  hae  you  already  tauld 
Huntlie  and  Errol's  men 
Could  scarce  be  thirteen  hundred  called. 
The  truth  if  ye  would  ken. 
And  yet  Argyll  and  his  thousand  ten 
Were  they  that  took  the  race  ; 
And  though  that  they  were  nine  to  ane, 
They  caused  them  tak'  the  chase. 
Sae  Argyll's  boast  it  was  in  vain, 
(He  thocht  sure  not  to  tyne  2), 
That  if  he  durst  come  to  the  plain. 
He  would  gar  every  nine 
Of  his  lay  hold  upon  ilk  man 
Huntlie  and  Errol  had  ; 
And  yet  for  all  his  odds  he  ran 
To  tell  how  ill  he  sped." 

^  With  regard  to  this,  Elizabeth  wrote  to  .lames  as  follows  in  October 
1594  (Letters  of  Elizabeth  and  James,  Camdi-n  See.) :  "You  see  .  .  . 
what  danger  it  bredes  a  king  to  glorify  too  hie  and  too  soudainly  a  boy 
of  yeres  and  conduict,  wliose  untimely  a^je  for  discretion  bredes  ra<ch 
consent  and  uiidesent  actions.  Such  speke  ere  they  weigh,  and  attempt 
ere  they  consider.  Tlie  weight  of  a  kingly  state  is  of  more  poix  than 
the  shalownes  of  a  rasche  yong  man's  he  I  can  waigh." 

2  i.e.  to  lose. 


CECIL   RETURNS   TO   SPAIN  69 

It  was  clear  to  the  Catholic  Lords  that,  although 
they  had  beaten  Argyll,  they  could  not  continue  un- 
assisted to  stand  if  James  attacked  them  in  earnest 
with  the  aid  that  Elizabeth  would  surely  lend  him  in 
such  circumstances.  Two  months  before  the  battle 
they  had  sent  Walter  Lindsay,  Lord  Balgarys,  to 
Madrid,  fervently  praying  Philip  to  fulfil  his  promise 
to  them  ;  ^  and  on  the  day  following  their  victory 
they  decided  to  send  back  Father  Cecil  with  the 
Jesuit,  Father  Gordon,  Huntly's  uncle,  to  represent 
their  desperate  position  to  the  King  of  Spain. 
Eventually,  Father  Gordon  was  unable  to  make  the 
voyage,  and  was  replaced  by  Hugh  Barclay,"  who 
accompanied  Cecil  to  Spain,  and  in  addition  to  the 
almost  despairing  letters  of  credence  and  exhortation 
which  they  carried,  Angus — who  appears  to  have 
been  a  good  Spanish  scholar — wrote  to  Philip 
placing  himself  absolutely  at  his  service,  without 
reservation  of  any  sort.  "  In  this  unhappy  country," 
he  said,  "  we  have  no  other  hope  than  the  aid  of 
your  Highness  ;  and  in  the  name  of  the  rest  of  the 
Catholics  here,  I  supplicate  your  Highness  to  help 
heartily  a  cause  so  just,  meritorious,  and  necessary, 
in  conformity  with  the  statement  which  will  be  made 
to  you  by  Father  Cecil,  who  is  the  bearer  of  this. 
As  regards  my  own  person,  I  beg  your  Highness  to 
favour  me  by  giving  me  this  consolation  in  all  my 
troubles,  namely,  to  place  me  amongst  the  number 
of  your  favoured  loyal  servants,  and  to  dispose 
entirely  at  your  will  of  all  I  have  and  all  I  am."^ 

1  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 

2  Angus  in  liis  letter  to  Idiaquez  introducing  liini  says,  "He  has 
fought  for  the  faith  until  he  had  a  rope  round  his  neck." 

^  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


70  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Before  Cecil  had  started  on  his  journey  (November 
1594),  Lord  Balgarys  saw  Philip  at  the  Escorial 
(October  20),  and  presented  the  demands  of  the 
Catholic  Lords.  To  those  who  know  the  Spanish 
King's  methods  and  principles,  it  is  sufficient  to 
read  Balgarys'  statement  of  demand  to  see  at  once 
that  his  mission  was  destined  to  fail.  Philip  missed 
most  of  the  opportunities  of  his  life  through  his 
insatiable  desire  to  force  pledges  and  conditions 
upon  others  whilst  remaining  only  vaguely  engaged 
himself.  It  must  have  been  a  novel  sensation  for 
him  to  find  that  the  Scotsmen,  though  they  were 
pleading  to  him  as  suppliants,  were  at  the  same 
time  trying  to  bind  him  down  to  all  manner  of 
things  beforehand.  The  first  condition  presented 
by  Balgarys  would  have  been  sufficient  to  stay  all 
aid  from  Philip,  even  if  it  had  stood  alone.  "  That 
his  Majesty  should  grant  him  a  patent,  assuring  them 
(the  Scots)  their  liberties,  and  that  the  war  should  be 
declared  to  be  undertaken  to  restore  the  Catholic 
religion.  That  for  the  entrance  into  England,  the 
command  should  be  given  either  to  the  Cardinal 
Archduke  Albert  or  his  brother  the  Archduke  Ernest. 
Either  of  them  would  be  welcomed  by  Scotsmen. 
That  for  the  war  in  Scotland  itself,  his  Majesty  .  .  . 
should  select  for  command  a  Catholic  Scottish  noble 
during  the  time  the  King  (James)  remains  a  heretic  ; 
and,  indeed,  even  if  he  change  his  opinions,  as  his 
conversion  cannot  be  believed  in ;  and  that  his 
Majesty  (Philip)  should  confer  some  dignity  upon 
the  general  so  selected.  That  a  fleet  should  be  sent 
to  protect  them,  and  an  army  to  march  into  England. 
That  twenty  small  ships  should  be  granted  to  them, 


FRESH   APPEALS   TO    PHILIP  71 

with  1000  good  liorses,  and  money  to  arm  and 
pay  24,000  Scotsmen,  as  well  as  arras  for  the 
Scottish  priests  ;  for  their  own — which  were  their 
books — have  been  burnt  by  the  heretics.  That  the 
Spaniards,  both  in  the  army  and  the  fleet,  should  be 
pious  and  willing  to  mix  with  Scotsmen,  so  that 
they  should  form  one  army  under  a  single  general. 
It  is  left  to  his  Majesty's  discretion  what  steps 
should  be  taken  to  restore  the  Catholic  faith.  That 
priests  should  be  sent  with  full  authority  to  check 
the  license  of  the  soldiery  as  much  as  possible. 
That  the  money  sent  from  Spain  should  be  destined 
to  certain  definite  uses,  and  not  be  applicable  to 
any  other  purposes.  There  should  be  a  written 
undertaking-  to  this  effect  given  to  the  King,  That, 
with  the  exception  of  the  soldiers  necessary  for  the 
defence  of  the  fleet,  the  rest  of  the  army  should 
enter  England  without  delay,  as  otherwise  war 
might  break  out  in  Scotland  itself,  which  would 
embarrass  the  expedition  and  render  the  result 
doubtful.  No  delay  will  arise  from  the  Scots,  as 
they  are  ready  to  obey  orders."  In  addition  to  this, 
his  Majesty  is  asked  to  found  a  college,  where  the 
sons  of  the  principal  Scots  may  be  educated  and 
taught  letters,  "  as  well  as  the  reverence  they  owe 
to  the  King  of  Spain,  which  should  be  obligatory 
on  their  successors  in  Scotland."  All  this  was  ver}^ 
different  in  tone  from  the  first  message  sent  in  the 
previous  year  by  Father  Cecil.  There  was  no  more 
talk  about  "dealing  witli"  James,  as  the  King  of 
Spain  might  order;  and  the  absence  of  all  reference 
to  the  future  sovereignty  of  England  seems  to  indi- 
cate that  the  renewed  kindness  between  James  and 


72  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

his  Catholic  subjects  had  not  been  without  influence 
upon  the  plans  of  the  latter/  At  all  events,  the 
new  conditions  presented  to  Philip  by  Balgarys  left 
the  door  open  for  the  assertion  of  James's  claims 
under  Spanish  auspices,  on  the  easy  condition  of  his 
"  conversion."  But  this  was  not  at  all  in  accordance 
with  the  views  of  Philip  and  his  Jesuit  advisers,  and 
thenceforward  the  charming  of  the  Scottish  Catho- 
lic nobles  fell  upon  deaf  ears  in  the  Spanish  court. 
Bland  assurances  of  sympathy  they  got  in  plenty 
from  the  King  and  his  secretaries  and  confessors, 
sometimes  even  vague,  noncommital  promises,  suffi- 
cient to  ensure  their  employment  as  a  diversion  if 
necessary  ;  but  Philip's  short-lived  trust  in  Scotsmen 
withered  from  the  time  that  Balgarys  saw  him  at 
the  Escorial  in  October  1 594. 

Father  Cecil  arrived  in  Madrid  in  December  1594,'^ 
and  added  his  prayers  to  those  of  Balgarys  ;    and 

1  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Philip's  claim  to  the  English  crown 
depended  mainly  upon  the  "  heresy  "  of  James  ;  the  alleged  informality 
of  the  marriages  of  his  parents  and  of  his  paternal  grandparents  being 
an  afterthought  of  small  importance.  The  reconciliation  of  James  to 
the  Catholic  Church  in  Scotland,  however  half-hearted  it  might  be, 
would  therefore  have  entirely  altered  the  position  of  Philip  and  his 
daughter  the  Infanta  with  regard  to  the  English  succession.  This  was 
the  principal  reason  why  any  solution  depending  upon  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  James  was  so  vigorously  opposed  by  Philip  and  the  Jesuits. 
It  would  have  suited  Spanish  views  perfectly  if  the  Catholic  Scottish 
nobles  had  captured  James  and  killed  him,  but  for  them  to  capture 
and  convert  him  was  the  last  tiling  desired. 

2  The  Venetian  ambassador  in  Madrid  wrote  to  the  Doge  at  this 
time  (loth  December  1594):  "  Two  Scotch  gentlemen  came  here  this 
month  on  pretext  of  private  affairs.  They  have  had  various  inter- 
views with  the  King  ;  and  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Scotland  they 
have  explained  that  his  Majesty  is  afraid  of  treachery  on  the  part 
of  some  of  his  powerful  Catholic  vassals.  He  is  afraid  to  make  an 
open  enemy  of  the  Queen  of  England,  otherwise  he  would  declare 
himself  a  Catholic  ;  both  because  he  is  so  inclined  and  in  order  to 


PHILIP    IS    IRRESPONSIVE  73 

early  in  1595  the  Laird  of  Ladyland  also  came  from 
Scotland  with  the  last  despairing  cry  of  the  Earls. 
Heartsick  of  the  cool  procrastination  of  Philip, 
which,  of  course,  they  failed  to  understand,  for  they 
could  not  look  at  the  King's  hand  as  we  have 
the  privilege  of  doing,  the  three  envoys  addressed 
a  letter  to  Philip  (in  May  ?)  which  set  forth  the 
hopeless  position  of  Huntly  and  his  friends.  "Sire," 
they  wrote,  "  the  Scottish  nobles,  who  with  their 
blood  have  fulfilled  all  that  in  their  name  was 
promised  to  your  Majesty  by  the  priest  John  Cecil ; 
and  not  alone  by  their  firm  profession  of  the  Catho- 
lic faith,  but  also  by  their  devotion  to  your  Majesty's 
service,  have  risked  their  lives,  estates,  goods,  and 
reputation,  and  have  risen  in  arms  against  the 
united  forces  of  England  and  Scotland,  gaining  the 
glorious  victory  they  did  in  October  {i.e.  Glenlivat) 
over  the  English  troops  sent  from  Ireland  and  the 
Scottish  troops  paid  by  the  English  Queen :  on 
which  occasion  they  captured  the  King's  standard, 
and  his  commission  ordering  the  expulsion  of  all 
Papists,  Seminarists,  Jesuits,  and  other  confederates 
of  Spain,  They  now  humbly  pray  your  Majesty 
to  send  them  promptly  the  aid  promised  to  them  in 
your  Majesty's  name  by  Serjeant  Porres  and  John 
Cecil.      In    full   dependence    upon    your    Majesty's 

save  bis  person  from  tliese  treaclierous  attacks.  At  first  the  (Spanish) 
Ministers  were  siispicious  of  this  mission,  thinking  that  it  might  cover 
some  ruse  of  the  Queen  of  England,  especially  as  it  is  known  that  the 
English  intend  to  attack  tlie  Indian  fleet  next  year.  Finally,  they 
resolvtd  to  send  a  private  emi.-sary  to  Scotland,  as  was  done  last  week, 
to  speak  to  the  King,  and  to  throw  more  light  on  the  matter"  (Venetian 
Calendar).  Whether  this  refers  to  the  mission  of  Cecil  and  Barclay,  or 
to  other  envoys  simultaneously  sent  by  James  to  circumvent  them,  is 
not  clear  ;  but  the  latter  is  probably  the  case. 


74  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

promise,  the  said  nobles  have  placed  themselves 
in  the  dangerous  position  already  described,  re- 
fusing all  offers  of  agreement  made  to  them  on 
behalf  of  the  Queen  of  England,  to  the  effect 
that  they  should  have  full  protection  and  liberty 
for  their  faith  within  their  own  territories,  if  they 
would  undertake  not  to  treat  with  Spain.  It  is 
now  about  two  years  ago  since  your  Majesty  sent 
Serjeant  Porres  and  gave  them  hopes  of  succour, 
and  Baron  Balgarys  has  been  here  for  the  last  seven 
months  pleading  for  them.  They  have  now  des- 
patched Baron  Ladyland  and  John  Cecil  as  the 
last  messengers  they  will  be  able  to  send  on  this 
business.  Your  Majesty  is  already  informed  of  the 
need  for  sending  prompt  aid  to  these  gentlemen  ; 
and  how  greatly  such  aid  would  serve  the  cause 
of  God  and  your  Majesty.  In  all  other  things 
they  submit  themselves  to  your  Majesty's  orders ; 
and  only  supplicate  your  Majesty,  if  possible,  to 
fulfil  your  royal  word.  If  this  be  impossible,  they 
pray  for  a  reply  and  dismissal. — John  Cecil.  Bal- 
thasar  (i.e.   Walter)   de  Balgarys.     Ladyland."^    A 

^  Rolstoii,  Essex's  spy  at  Fuentarrabia,  writes  under  date  of  January 
31,  1595  :  "The  Scots  gentleman  has  now  got  his  despatch  and  will  be 
here  in  twenty  days.  For  this  reason  it  will  be  proper  to  give  orders 
on  the  coast  of  Norfolk  to  finger  him  in  his  way  if  it  be  possilile.  He 
calleth  himself  Walter  Lindsay,  and  the  master  of  the  ship  is  Thomas 
Sutherland  of  Aberdeen,  It  is  openly  said  at  Fuentarrabia  that  he  w.is 
sent  to  Spain  by  seven  Earls  of  Scotland,  of  whom  the  Earl  Bolhwell 
and  Earl  of  Huntly  be  the  chiefs.  What  despatch  he  obtained  I  know 
not  till  he  cometh  to  Fuentarrabia.  All  I  can  learn  is  that  those  Eails 
had  sworn  to  make  war  against  the  Queen  of  England  if  the  KinLT  of 
Spain  would  help  them"  (Birch).  In  March  1595  the  Earl  of  Mar 
wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Essex  :  "  As  tn  the  negotiation  of  Lindsay,  I  think 
as  yet  the  directors  of  him  have  received  small  or  no  comfort  of  his 
message."      In   November    1595    Mr.   Aston   wrote   from   Edinburgh 


DEFEAT   OF   HUNTLY  75 

further  peti'aon  of  similar  date  prayed  l^hilip  to 
intercede  with  the  Pontiff,  and  prevail  ii])on  him  to 
grant  to  the  Catholic  Eoids  in  arms  the  subsidy  of 
5000  ducats  a  month  which  he  had  offered  to  James 
in  June  1594  if  he  would  take  up  arms  against 
England. 

But  it  was  already  too  late  for  Philip  to  have 
helped  them,  even  if  he  had  wished  to  do  so. 
James  had,  for  once  in  his  life,  shown  some  activity 
and  boldness.  He  had  pawned  his  jewels  and 
pledged  what  credit  he  had,  and  summoning  all  that 
was  loyal  and  Protestant  of  his  realm,  had  com- 
pletely crushed  Huntly  and  Errol.  Driven  to  their 
mountain  strongholds,  their  lands  wasted  and  their 
houses  burnt,  they  humbly  begged  the  King's  per- 
mission to  retire  beyond  the  sea.  With  their  exile 
the  Catholic  revolt  was  at  an  end  in  Scotland,  and 
the  King's  position  with  the  Protestant  party  firmer 
than  ever  it  had  been.  In  July  1595  he  wrote  to 
Elizabeth  complaining  of  her  slackness  in  helping 
him,  and  again  begging  for  her  aid  against  the 
Catholics ;  for  during  the  time  of  struggle  into 
which  her  railing  had  driven  him  she  had  silently 
stood  aloof.  Again  he  sought  to  spur  her  as  before 
with  hints  at  her  own  danger:  "Surelie,  Madame, 
if  it  shal  please  you  to  wey  it,  ye  will  find  we  both 
are  but  at  a  truce  and  not  at  peace  with  the  Romishe 

(Birch)  that  they  were  in  great  fear  in  Scotland  of  the  coming  of  the 
Spaniard,  and  reports — from  a  letter  received  from  a  Scotsman  in  Spain 
— of  the  great  preparations  beinj,'  made.  "  Mr.  Walter  Lindsay  has 
been  honourably  entertained  in  Spain  and  is  made  a  knight.  He  has 
obtained  all  he  desired,  lioth  for  himself  and  the  banished  lords,  and  is 
coming  to  Flanders  with  the  Cardinal "  (Archduke  Albert).  It  will  be 
seen  that  Rolston  was  mistaken,  and  that  Balgarys  remained  in  Spain. 


76  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Spanische  practices.  These  Spanolised  rebels  of 
mine  that  are  fiedd  the  cuntrey  are  but  retired  to 
fetch  a  greater  fairde  if  they  may."  ^  How  far  James 
may  have  really  believed  this  it  is  hard  to  say,  but 
wittingly  or  unwittingly,  he  had  ruined  the  hopes 
of  his  rebel  Catholic  Lords  by  his  artful  intervention 
on  the  same  side.  It  is  giving  him,  perhaps,  too 
much  credit  for  penetration  to  suppose  that  he 
foresaw  the  exact  result  of  his  action ;  he  probably 
intended  merely  to  secure  for  himself  the  benefit 
of  any  Spanish  movement,  and  did  not  recognise 
that  his  participation  in  Catholic  plans  would  pre- 
vent a  Spanish  expedition  altogether.  How  little 
the  Lords  themselves  still  understood  this,  and  how 
completely  James  had  outwitted  them,  is  best  told 
in  the  words  of  the  envoy  they  sent  to  Spain  from 
Paris  after  their  flight  from  Scotland.  This  was 
Matthew  Semple,  probably  a  son  of  Lord  Semple, 
and  c  nephew  of  Colonel  Sir  William  Semple,  who 
was  an  officer  in  Philip's  pay.  This  is  the  statement 
handed  to  the  Spanish  King  by  Semple  : — "  On  the 
5th  July  Matthew  Semple  left  Paris  for  Spain,  on 
behalf  of  the  Earls  of  Huntly  and  Bothwell,^  and 
Lord  Semple,  all  of  whom  left  Scotland  in  conse- 
quence  of  the  confusion  in  the  news  coming  from 
Flanders,  hy  which  the  Catholics  were  7nade  to 
believe  that  his  Majesty  {Philip)  would  do  7iothing 
for  Scotland  except  with  the  co-operation  of  the 
King.     The  King  of  Scotland   was    also    kept    in- 

1  James  to  Elizabeth,  July  1595  (Camden  Society). 

-  Fiancis  Stuart,  Earl  of  Both  well,  the  ultra- Protestant,  who  had 
so  often  been  sheltered  by  Elizabeth  after  his  attacks  upon  James  and 
his  Catholic  advisers,  had  now  joined  his  former  opponents,  and  lived 
for  the  rest  of  his  life  on  Philip's  grudging  charity. 


JAMES   OUTWITS  THE    CATHOLICS     77 

formed  (i.e.  by  the  Catholics)  of  what  was  in 
progress,  and  he  deceitfully  continued  on  good 
terms  with  the  Lords.  They,  however,  knew  his 
intentions,  and  paid  no  attention  to  his  doings, 
still  hoping  that  his  Majesty  (Philip)  would  not 
allow  so  much  injustice  to  be  done.  But  as,  con- 
trary to  their  expectations,  an  answer  was  so  long 
delayed,  they  began  to  suspect  that  the  corrupt 
management  of  the  Scottish  King  had  upset  the 
plan,  as  he  not  only  contrived  this  trick  in  Flanders 
[i.e.  to  spread  the  false  intelligence  referred  to  above), 
but  also  industriously  sought  to  gain  the  nobles, 
either  by  force  or  chicanery.  At  last,  as  no  answer 
came  (from  Spain),  they  concluded  that  his  manoeuvres 
had  succeeded,  although  the  King  of  Scots  wrote 
to  them  repeatedly  that  he  was  of  the  same  intention 
as  they  were,  and  was  himself  secretly  planning  the 
means  (to  help  them),  pending  the  arrival  of  aid 
from  Spain. ^  He  also  said  that  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  maintain  a  secret  correspondence  with 
them.  He  said,  however,  that  he  must  still  appear 
severe  publicly,  and  assured  them  that  he  only 
w^anted  a  show  of  obedience  to  him,  by  two  or  three 
of  them  leaving  Scotland  for  any  other  country  but 
the  dominions  of  the  King  of  Spain,  for  as  long  or 

*  Archibald  Primrose,  writing  on  the  7th  August  1595  to  John 
Colville  (Bannatyne  Club,  Colville  Letters)  says  that  "Pliilip,  by  means 
of  his  instruments  in  Scotland,  had  offered  James  a  hundred  thousand 
crowns  if  he  would  give  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  Catholics  in  his 
realm,  with  promise  of  further  payments  when  toeration  was  fully 
estalilislied."  Primrose  l)lames  the  Chancellor  and  other  Ministers  of 
James  for  his  underhand  dealings  with  ihe  Catholics,  but  says  that  as 
he  (James)  was  the  same  "auld  man,"  in  his  opinion  "there  is  no  guid 
to  he  expectit  at  his  handis,"  though  he  (Primrose)  hopes  to  find  a 
way  to  undo  the  "  traffique." 


78  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

short  a  period  as  they  liked.  This  was  written  to 
them  secretly  and  with  many  expressions  of  affection  ; 
bat  there  was  a  public  arrangement  that  many  should 
be  ostensibly  banished,  although  only  the  three 
named  really  went.  This  was  agreed  to  by  the 
Catholics,  in  order  to  test  the  truth  of  the  news 
from  Flanders,  spread  by  idle  people  there  who  for 
years  have  had  no  communication  with  Scotland. 
The  Lords  left  their  lands  well  guarded  by  the  rest 
of  the  Catholics,  such  as  Angus,  Herrys,  and  Errol, 
who  hold  the  authority  of  these  in  their  absence. 
Huntly  is  at  Cologne,  and  Bothwell  and  Semple  in 
Paris.  Semple  first  passed  through  Flanders  to  test 
the  truth  of  the  reports,  but  could  find  no  impartial 
person  to  inform  him,  and  went  on  to  Paris,  where 
advices  were  received  from  Huntly  which  caused 
them  to  despatch  Matthew  Semple  to  Spain  to  learn 
the  true  state  of  affairs.  .  .  .  We  beg  that  the 
resolution  arrived  at  may  be  prompted  by  the  know- 
ledare  that  the  love  and  determination  of  the  Catholics 
will  not  waver  if  his  Majesty  will  treat  them  in 
accordance  with  their  deserts ;  and  they  urge  his 
Majesty  to  act  with  more  promptitude  either  in 
deeds  or  resolutions  in  writing,  and,  if  promises  are 
punctually  fulfilled,  he  may  always  count  upon  the 
fidelity    of    the    Catholic    Lords. — Madrid,    August 

1595-'" 

Nothing  can  be  imagined  more  likely  to  alienate 

Philip  than  this.     The  Catholic  Lords  confessed  how 

ready  they  had   been   to  fall  into  the   trap,  and  to 

include  in  their  plans  for  the  future  the  King  whom 

they  had  formerly  proposed  to  capture  and    "  deal 

^  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


FAILURE   OF   THE    CATHOLIC   SCOTS     79 

with"  as  the  Spanish  King  might  desire.  They  had 
been  outwitted  in  counsel  and  thoroughly  beaten 
in  the  field  ;  and  far  from  being  able  to  help  Philip 
in  England,  could  not  help  themselves  or  their  cause 
in  their  own  country.  And  yet  they  made  even 
their  afifection  and  steadfastness  depend  upon  the 
King  of  Spain's  "treating  them  in  accordance  with 
their  deserts,"  and  their  fidelity  to  him  conditional 
upon  the  punctual  fulfilment  of  his  promises  and  his 
greater  promptitude  in  deeds  or  resolution.  Philip 
was  not  accustomed  to  be  addressed  in  this  way. 
He  worked  behind  an  impenetrable  veil,  and,  like 
the  decrees  of  an  inscrutable  providence,  his  deci- 
sions had  to  be  accepted  by  all  men  with  bowed 
heads  as  the  emanations  of  a  divinely  inspired 
wisdom.  To  make  him  a  party  to  a  bargain,  and 
to  measure  allegiance  to  him  by  his  own  fulfilment 
of  conditions,  was  no  less  than  impious  in  the  eyes 
of  those  by  whom  he  was  surrounded.  So  the 
mission  of  Matthew  Semple  was  as  fruitless  as  that 
of  Balgarys  had  been,  and  the  man  who  had  won 
the  game,  so  far,  by  his  cunning  was  James  Stuart. 


CHAPTER   IV 

The  condition  of  the  Catholics  in  England — Disagreement  between 
the  Jesuits  and  Seciilai's — Party  politics  in  the  English  Court — 
Real  and  pretended  plots  against  the  Queen — Father  Young's 
confessions — The  irreconcilable  English  refugees — The  confessions 
of  Webster — Polwhele's  and  Collen's  plots — DaniePs  and  CahiU's 
confessions — Arrest  of  Father  Henry  Walpole — The  doubtful 
evidence  in  support  of  most  of  the  so-called  plots. 

We  have  hitherto  been  concerned  mainly  in  de- 
scribing the  intrigues  by  which  it  was  pi'oposed  to 
utilise  the  Catholic  elements  in  Scotland  and  Ireland 
for  the  purpose  of  subverting  the  established  order 
in  England.  We  must  now  glance  at  the  position 
of  the  English  Catholics  themselves  in  the  new 
circumstances  which  followed  the  defeat  of  the 
Armada,  xlt  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's  reign, 
the  general  desire  for  peace,  and  the  lack  of  authori- 
tative fixity  of  the  Roman  practice,  had  caused  the 
mass  of  the  people,  clerical  and  lay,  to  acquiesce 
without  open  revolt  in  the  change  in  the  religion 
of  the  country.  They  attended  church,  it  is  true 
with  some  mental  reservation,  and  not  a  few  of 
them  still  secretly  observed  the  old  practices  ;  but 
a  generation  that  had  already  seen  at  least  three 
radical  changes  effected  by  law  in  the  established 
religion  of  the  country  was  not  prepared  to  risk 
property  and  life  by  going  to  war  with  authority 
to  resist  the  fourth ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that,  if  England  had  been  free  from  outside  inter- 


THE   ENGLISH   CATHOLICS  8i 

ference,  the  end  of  Elizabeth's  reign  would  have 
seen  the  lleformation  permanently  and  peacefully 
settled  in  the  country  by  a  workable  compromise 
depending  upon  general  consent.  The  earlier  con- 
spiracies against  Elizabeth  and  Protestantism  that 
took  place  arose,  not  amongst  the  common  people 
or  the  clergy,  but  amongst  the  nobles  and  higher 
gentry — the  Arundels,  Lumleys,  Nevilles,  Percies, 
Howards,  Dacres,  Montagus,  and  the  like — who 
resented  the  displacing  of  the  ancient  nobility  from 
their  commanding  position  in  the  councils  of  the 
sovereign,^  in  favour  of  the  secretarial  class  and  new 
men  who  were  trusted  by  Elizabeth.  It  was  with 
the  nobles  that  the  successive  Spanish  ambassadors 
from  1559  to  1585  wove  their  constant  plots;  but 
the  evil  fate  that  overtook  the  successive  conspira- 
cies and  conspirators  had,  before  the  time  of  the 
Armada,  served  as  a  warning  to  a  class  that  collec- 
tively had  so  much  to  lose  by  unsuccessful  rebellion  ; 
and  although  the  majority  of  them  remained  Catholic 
in  their  sympathies,  they  had  grown  too  cautious 
to  be  openly  disloyal. 

That  a  condition  of  things  that  threatened  to 
allow  Catholicism  to  die  out  gradually  and  peace- 
fully in  England  should  be  accepted  without  a 
struggle  by  the  leaders  of  the  Church  abroad  was 
not  to  be  expected.  A  certain  number  of  English- 
men and  Welshmen,  who  were  either  too  con- 
scientious   or    too    ambitious    and    deeply    pledged 

1  This  was  the  principal  pretext  for  the  rising  of  the  Northern 
Earls,  and  was  recited  in  the  Pope's  Bull  of  excommunication  in  1570 
as  being  one  of  the  great  misdeeds  of  Elizabeth  which  had  called  for 
her  condemnation. 

F 


82  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

to  change  their  faith  at  the  bidding  of  Queen  and 
Parliament,  retired  to  Catholic  countries,  where  they 
might  enjoy  their  religion  openly  without  molesta- 
tion. These  men  had  no  more  desire,  at  first,  to 
see  their  country  submitted  to  the  foreigner  than 
other  Englishmen ;  but  they  were  naturally  de- 
termined, if  they  could,  to  see  her  Catholic.  The 
establishment  of  Father  Allen's  seminary  at  Douai 
in  1568  answered  this  wish,  by  providing  for  the 
education  of  young  Englishmen  in  the  Catholic 
faith.  Allen  himself  was  good,  gentle,  and  single- 
hearted.  Whilst  yet  a  layman  he  had  done  his 
best  in  England  to  dissuade  his  fellow-Catholics 
from  attending  the  Reformed  services,  and  thus 
gradually  lapsing  to  Protestantism ;  and  the  imme- 
diate object  of  his  seminary  was  to  furnish  a  stream 
of  ardent  young  zealots  to  preach  the  same  doctrine.^ 
All  sorts  of  youths  flocked  to  the  new  school.  Lads 
yearning  for  adventure,  runaway  apprentices  and 
students ;  even  soldiers  and  serving-men,  it  is  said  : 
Allen's  charity  was  large  enough  to  receive  them  all, 
but  in  such  a  mixed  assembly  there  could  not 
fail  to  be  many  who  were  but  ill  adapted  to  the 
mission  they  undertook.  From  1574  onward  great 
numbers  of  Seminarists  went  to  England  from  Douai 
and  the  other  colleges  that  were  started  in  imitation 
of  it.^     That  their  ministrations  were  in  the  main 

1  The  oath  taken  by  a  Seminarist,  after  confessing  the  signal  mercj'- 
of  God  in  bringing  him  out  of  his  own  country,  so  affected  by  heresy, 
pledges  him  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  divine  service,  and  "  with  the 
divine  grace  in  due  time  to  receive  holy  orders,  and  to  return  into 
England  to  convert  the  souls  of  my  countrymen  and  kindred,  when 
and  as  often  as  it  shall  seem  good  to  the  superiors  of  this  College" 
(Fuller's  "  Church  History  "). 

2  Mendoza,  the  Spanish  ambassador,  wrote  in  December  1579  to  the 


THE    SEMINARISTS  83 

religious,  and,  although  sometimes  ignorant  and 
unwise,  not  political,  is  seen  by  the  fact  that  up 
to  1581  only  three  persons  lost  their  lives  for 
Catholicism  in  England  under  Elizabeth  ; '  although 
from  1570  onward  all  Catholic  propagandists  and 
"obstinate"  recusants  were  treated  as  disloyal  sub- 
jects, and  imprisoned  when  caught.  Elizabeth  and 
Burghley  have  been  attacked  bitterly  for  what  is 
assumed  to  be  their  religious  persecution  of  Catholics 
who  had  no  direct  designs  against  the  State.  They 
certainly  made  little  or  no  distinction  between  those 
who  plotted  the  invasion  and  subjugation  of  their 
native  land,  and  those  who,  whilst  proud  of  being 
Englishmen,  and  of  the  growing  potency  of  their 
nation  under  the  rule  of  the  Queen,  wished  at  least 
for  liberty  to  worship  as  their  consciences  or  teach- 
ing dictated.  That  this  was  the  case  may  be  partly 
attributed  to  the  ideas  of  a  period  when  disregard  of 
the  uniformity  prescribed  by  law  was  considered  to 

King  :  "The  number  of  Catholics,  thauk  God,  is  daily  increasing  here, 
owing  to  the  seminary  for  Englishmen  which  your  Majesty  ordered  to 
be  supported  at  Douai,  whence  there  has  come  in  this  past  year — and 
from  the  college  at  Rome — a  hundred  Englishmen  who  have  been 
ordained  there  :  by  which  means  a  great  number  of  people  are  being 
converted,  generally  persons  who  never  heard  the  truth  preached 
before.  These  priests  go  about  disguised  as  laymen,  and  although 
they  are  young  men,  their  good  life,  fervency,  and  zeal  in  the  work  are 
admirable.  God's  grace  is  clearly  witnessed  in  the  way  they  are  led 
on  by  His  hand  in  this  ministry,  and  in  the  joy  and  fortitude  with 
which  they  offer  themselves  for  martyrdom  whenever  they  are  called 
upon  to  suffer  it  for  the  Lord's  sake.  Some  have  suffered  thus  with 
invincible  firmness  and  ineffable  content,  following  in  the  footsteps 
of  so  many  of  their  predecessors.  Of  the  old  priests  very  few  now 
remain,  and  they  are  imprisoned  strictly  "  (Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  ii.). 

1  Challoner,  "Memoirs  of  Missionary  Priests."  This,  however,  does 
not  include  Feltun,  Dr.  Storey,  Woodhouse,  and  Father  Pluratree,  whose 
offences  were  clearly  treasonable. 


84  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

be  a  dangerous  departure  from  the  obedience  due 
to  the  sovereign ;  but,  as  Lord  Burghley  has  himself 
argued  in  masterly  fashion  in  "  The  Execution  of 
Justice,"  it  was  far  more  directly  traceable  to  the 
aggressive  action  of  Pius  V.,  a  pontiff  remarkable 
neither  for  his  wisdom  nor  his  learning.  At  a  time 
when  England  was  in  the  throes  of  revolution  the 
Pope  thought  fit,  probably  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr. 
Morton,  Dr.  Webb,  and  the  Bishop  of  Ross,  to  throw 
down  the  gauntlet,  and  by  a  Bull  excommunicated 
Elizabeth  and  her  obedient  subjects.  She,  already 
a  beloved  and  powerful  sovereign,  was  denounced 
in  coarse  and  brutal  language  as  an  usurper,  whose 
subjects  were  enjoined  to  refuse  allegiance,  and 
were  declared  to  be  absolved  from  obedience  to  her, 
notwithstanding  their  oaths.  Thenceforward  those 
who  acknowledged  the  Pope's  supremacy  could  not 
acknowledge  the  Queen's  right  to  the  throne,  and  were 
constructive  traitors  ;  and  Elizabeth,  recognising  her 
danger,  naturally  treated  them  as  such.  The  Northern 
Earls  were  in  rebellion ;  Ridolfi  and  the  Spanish 
ambassador  were  planning  the  Queen's  murder,  and 
Mary  Stuart  was  already  seducing  from  his  allegiance 
the  greatest  of  English  nobles  with  the  bait  of 
marriage.  That  the  priests  who  preached  obedience 
to  the  Pope  and  the  laymen  who  believed  in  such 
teaching  should  be  put  in  a  place  where  they  could 
do  no  harm  was  therefore  a  necessary  measure  of 
self-preservation  on    the  part    of  the   Government,^ 

1  It  should  be  remarked  that,  contrary  to  the  opinion  expressed  by 
most  English  historians,  the  Bull,  very  far  from  being  promoted  by 
Philip,  greatly  annoyed  him.  The  intrusion  of  Pope.-,  and  Churchmen 
into  politics  without  his  connivance  caused  him  endless  trouble.     The 


THE    BULL    OF    EXCOMMUNICATION    85 

who  could  not  be  expected  to  draw  fine  distinctions 
between  Catholics  and  Catholics.  With  the  dis- 
turbances in  the  English  College  at  Rome  and  the 
participation  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  English  Mission 
(1580),  the  inevitable  division  of  the  Catholics 
showed  itself  both  in  England  and  abroad.  There 
were  a  dozen  excuses  which  were  good  enough  for 
the  disregard  of  the  Pope's  Bull  by  those  English 
Catholics  who  did  not  want  to  see  their  country 
under  a  foreign  yoke.  They  had  not  seen  the  Bull 
itself;  some,  with  Aquinas,  denied  the  validity  of 
the  excommunication  of  sovereigns  and  people  en 
masse,  and  others  questioned  the  right  of  the  Pope 
to  compel  them  to  expose  themselves  to  risk  of  loss 
of  life  and  goods  by  rebellion.  But  to  those  who 
accepted  to  the  full  the  Papal  authority,  and  to  the 
extreme  Jesuit  party,  the  Bull  was  an  ample  warrant 
for,  nay,  a  direct  incentive  to,  disloyalty  ;  and  from 
the  time  when  this  party  obtained  a  leading  share  in 
directing  the  English  Mission  it  was  a  war  to  the 
death  between  Elizabeth  and  the  Catholics.^ 

conversion  of  England  was  to  him  a  secondary  consideration.  He 
wanted  either  her  friendship  or  her  subjection. 

1  Father  Mush,  one  of  Allen's  favourite  pupils  and  a  most  respected 
seminary  priest,  thus  wrote  during  the  appeal  against  the  authority  of 
the  Archpriest  :  "  At  their  first  in^Tess  (into  England)  the  Jesuits  so 
acted  as  to  provoke  the  Queen  and  Magistrates  to  enact  most  cruel  laws 
before  unheard  of  against  the  Seminarists.  The  Fathers  interfered  in 
the  government  of  the  clergy.  One  of  the  Jesuits  {i.e.  Heyward)  con- 
ducted himself  as  if  he  had  been  a  le.cate  ad  latere  of  the  Holy  See,'' 
&c.,  &c.     Quoted  in  Law's  "  Jesuiis  and  Seculars." 

In  the  appellant's  declaration  to  the  Pope,  Clement  VII.,  in  the  same 
cause,  the  secular  priests  wrote:  "Father  Persons  was  the  principal 
author,  incentor,  and  mover  of  all  our  garboils  at  home  and  abroad. 
He  fled  from  the  Mission  like  a  dastardly  soldier,  consulting  his  own 
safety  .  .  .  but  safe  abroad  he  writes  treason  and  threats  of  invasion, 
which  so  incenses  the  English  magistrates  that  they  rise  up  against  us 


86  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

In  an  earlier  chapter  it  has  been  pointed  out  that 
the  exposure  of  the  ultimate  plans  of  this  party 
by  the  events  of  the  Armada  still  further  accen- 
tuated the  division  between  the  tw^o  sections  of 
the  English  Catholics.  Englishmen,  as  a  rule, 
disliked  and  looked  down  upon  Scotsmen,  but  at 
least  the  King  of  Scots  was  a  descendant  of  the 
royal  house  of  England,  and  spoke  English  of  a 
sort ;  and  although  the  idea  of  a  Scot  reigning  over 
South  Britain  was  not  a  welcome  one,  it  was  more 
acceptable  to  the  mass  of  the  people  than  that  of 
a  Spanish  sovereign  —  a  beaten  enemy,  with  the 
Inquisition  and  all  the  old  abuses,  religious  and 
political,  in  his  train.  And  so  it  happened  that 
at  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  writing  (1593-95) 
the  English  Catholics,  as  a  body,  were  not  ready  to 
second  a  Spanish  invasion  of  their  country.  The 
English  Catholic  priests  came  over  still  by  scores 
on  their  Mission,  disguised  and  suffering  hardships 
and  dangers  untold.  They  were  imprisoned,  tor- 
tured, and,  if  firm,  executed,  with  all  the  refined 
horrors  of  death,  for  treason,  Wisbech  Castle  was 
crammed  with  Catholic  clerics  who  were  less  in- 
volved than  some  of  their  brethren,  and  recusant 
laymen  were  harried  by  ruinous  fines,  by  imprison- 
ment, and  by  galling  supervision,  until  they  were 
worried  into  conformity,  exile,  or  death. 

But  withal,  they,  like  the  rest  of  their  countrymen, 

and  execute  their  laws.  They  exclaim  that  it  is  not  the  concern  of 
religion  that  busies  us,  but  that  under  that  cloak  we  meddle  in  politics 
and  practice  the  ruin  of  the  State"  (ibid).  It  will  be  seen  by  this  how 
the  inoffensive  Catholic  priests  were  thus  punished  for  the  reckless 
and  venomous  writings  of  Persons,  of  which  most  of  them  entirely 
disapproved. 


PERSECUTION    OF   CATHOLICS         87 

who  had  witnessed  in  person  the  growing  greatness 
and  wealth  of  England  under  the  consummate 
government  of  the  Queen,  were  freshly  quickened 
with  pride  and  love  for  the  land  that  gave  them 
birth.  Seminarists  who  came  from  their  foreign 
schools  to  England  entered,  after  a  few  months  of 
contact  with  their  fellow-countrymen,  into  the  same 
patriotic  humour  ;  and,  hard  as  was  the  lash  that 
fell  upon  them  by  the  savage  enactments  against 
recusancy  passed  in  the  Parliament  of  1 593,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  few  of  the  Catholics  re- 
sident in  England  were  really  traitors  to  the  State. 
But  they  suftered  for  the  ignorance  and  bitterness 
of  those  of  their  countrymen  who  lived  abroad,  and 
were  out  of  touch  with  the  patriotic  feeling  which 
had  grown  up  in  England  during  the  years  of  their 
exile.  Persons  and  his  Jesuits  were  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  foreigners.  Allen,  Morton,  Holt,  Sir 
William  Stanley,  Sir  Francis  Englefield,  the  Duchess 
of  Feria,  Dr.  Stillington,  Hugh  Owen,  Heighington, 
and  the  rest  of  their  party,  who  posed  as  the  great 
authorities  upon  English  affairs  in  the  counsels  of 
Philip,  had  not  seen  their  native  land  for  many 
years.  Before  the  Armada  they  had  one  and  all 
assured  the  King  that  a  great  Catholic  England  was 
yearning  with  open  arms  to  welcome  the  Spaniards 
as  liberators  and  friends.  "  Not  our  England,  but 
your  England,"  said  Persons's  Valladolid  scholars  to 
Philip,  their  patron,  in  their  fulsome  address  to  him. 
Growing  more  and  more  bitter  with  repeated  dis- 
appointment and  failure,  seeing,  as  the  years  sped 
on,  their  golden  dreams  of  mitres,  titles,  and  com- 
mands recede  farther  from  them,  whilst  their  poor 


88  TREASON    AND   PLOT 

doles  of  pensions  were  irregularly  and  grudgingly 
paid  by  Philip's  officers,  and  the  bread  of  exile  grew 
harder,  despairing  counsels  of  a  way  out  by  the 
murder  of  the  Queen  or  her  Ministers  alternated 
now  with  the  schemes  of  invasion  and  conquest,  of 
which  they  talked  so  freely,  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
with  so  little  warrant. 

The  various  plans  for  the  assassination  of  Eliza- 
beth up  to  this  period  had  been  mainly  originated  in 
England  by  nobles  and  gentry  who  sought  foreign 
patronage  or  assistance  for  their  schemes  of  ambi- 
tion. This  was  the  case  with  the  Ridolfi  plot,  the 
Guise  plan  of  1583,  and  the  Babington  conspiracy. 
Others,  again,  like  that  for  which  Dr.  Parry  suffered, 
and  that  of  Moody  and  young  Stafford,  were  more  or 
less  bogus  plots,  in  which  agents-provocateurs  were 
sacrificed  to  the  exigencies  of  party  politics.^  The 
violent  and  mischievous  talk  of  the  exiles  in  Flanders, 
many  of  them  Irishmen  belonging  to  Sir  William 
Stanley's  rebel  regiment,  was  now  brought  to  Eng- 
land, distorted  and  exaggerated  by  eager  spies,  or  by 
starved,  half-distracted  Seminarists,  torn  by  the  rack 
or  terrified  by  the  sight  of  it  to  say  anything  that  they 
thought  would  for  the  moment  please  their  captors. 
Much  of  such  stuff  was  obviously  untrue,  or  at  least 
untrustworthy,  but  it  was  made  the  most  of  in 
England,  for  two  reasons.     Anything  that  aroused 

1  My  reason  for  this  belief  is  given  in  the  "  Great  Lord  Burghley." 
Camden's  lines  reflect  the  general  feeling  in  England  at  the  time. 
"  Thus  did  the  English  fugitives,  lewd  priests,  and  lay  villains  together 
plot  and  contrive  the  ruin  of  the  Queen  by  all  the  arts  they  could  use  ; 
and  all  from  a  pernicious  principle  of  bigotry  rooted  in  their  minds 
that  princes  excommunicated  are  not  fit  to  live  ;  and  the  Spanish 
Ministers  seconded  the  design  and  improved  their  hatred  as  far  as  it 
would  go." 


THE   MURDER   PLOTS  89 

horror  and  detestation  of  Spain,  and  of  those  Eng- 
lishmen who  were  assumed  to  have  sold  their  bodies 
and  souls  to  her,  was  useful — as  we  have  seen  in  the 
report  of  the  Parliament  of  1593 — in  keeping  alive 
the  patriotism  of  the  country,  inciting  its  liberality  in 
the  matter  of  supplies  for  defence  against  so  das- 
tardly a  foe,  and  in  attracting  to  the  Protestant  side 
those  waverers  who  declined  to  continue  their  identi- 
fication with  a  cause  which  allowed  regicide  to  be 
used  for  its  ends. 

The  other  reason  why  these  so-called  plots  were 
frequently  exaggerated  unduly  must  be  sought  in 
the  political  situation  in  England  itself.  Lord 
Burghley  and  his  party  had  always  stood  for 
moderation  and  a  mutual  understanding  with 
Spain,  as  opposed  to  the  Puritan,  Protestant,  or 
war  party,  now  led  by  Essex.  One  of  the  secrets 
of  Burghley's  great  influence  had  been  his  elaborate 
system  of  spies  everywhere,  which  had  given  him  a 
monopoly  of  information,  and  an  unrivalled  control 
over  affairs.  Essex  determined  to  organise  a  similar 
system,  which  should  enable  him  to  countercheck 
the  Cecils.  This  he  had  done  between  1590  and 
1594  at  great  cost  to  himself.  To  aid  him  in 
his  plans  he  had  by  his  side  for  a  time  one  of  the 
most  plausible,  unscrupulous  scoundrels  in  Europe, 
to  whom  none  of  the  wiles  of  statecraft  were  un- 
known. Antonio  Perez,  the  absconding  Minister 
of  Philip  11. ,  was  able,  as  no  other  man  could  be, 
to  spread  the  network  of  treachery  over  Europe, 
with  the  object  of  enabling  Essex  to  draw  England 
into  war  with  Spain,  and  so  to  vanquish  the 
moderate  policy  of  Cecil. 


90  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

But  the  Cecil  party  could  not  afford  to  be  outdone, 
either  in  vigilance  or  in  solicitude  for  the  safety  of 
the  Queen,  and  each  organisation  constantly  en- 
deavoured to  "  score  off"  the  other  by  the  sensational 
nature  of  its  discoveries,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
blacken  the  character  and  discredit  the  bona  fides 
of  its  rival.  The  spies  were  necessarily  persons  of 
questionable  life ;  nearly  always  sold  both  to  Spain 
and  England  ;  and  it  was  usually  easy  to  convict 
them  of  treachery.  It  was,  in  such  case,  often  the 
policy  of  their  employers  to  abandon  them  rather 
than  seem  to  countenance  men  or  methods  rendered 
infamous  by  accusation  ;  and  the  agent  provocateur, 
the  eager  delator,  or  the  vain  babbler,  was  caught  in 
his  own  lure  and  sent  to  rot  in  dungeons  or  die  a 
cruel  death,  whilst  his  noble  paymaster,  who  knew 
or  could  guess  the  true  circumstances,  affected  horror 
at  so  much  wickedness. 

This  keen  competition  in  the  discoveries  of  treason 
caused  the  unfortunate  priests  or  suspects  who  were 
caught  in  or  on  their  way  to  England  to  be  treated 
as  if  each  one  of  them  was  the  emissary  of  a  murder 
conspiracy  or  guilty  of  a  design  against  the  State  ; 
and  there  are  in  the  Record  Office  (Domestic 
Papers)  many  scores  of  sheets  of  depositions  of  such 
men,  telling,  under  torture  or  threat,  their  poor 
squalid  little  stories  of  hardship  and  suffering,  but 
rarely  any  more  important  political  secrets  than  the 
vague  tittle-tattle  of  the  seminaries  or  the  bragga- 
docio of  renegade  soldiers  and  malcontent  refugees. 

A  typical  case  of  this  sort,  of  which  full  particulars 
are  available,  was  that  of  a  priest  usually  called 
Dingley,  but  whose  real  name  seems  to  have  been 


"DINGLEY'S"   ARREST  91 

James  Young,  of  Eylescliffe,  Durham.  He  had  lived 
abroad  in  the  household  of  Cardinal  Allen,  after  the 
death  of  the  Bishop  of  Ross,  whose  servant  he  pro- 
fessed formerly  to  have  been.  When  we  first  hear 
of  him  in  August  1592,  he  liad  been  caught  some 
months  before  by  Eord  Burghley's  pursuivants,  and 
was  lodged  in  the  Poultry  Compter  in  the  city  of 
London.  He  was  ready  at  this  time,  in  appearance, 
to  tell  all  he  knew.^  He  was,  he  said,  a  humble 
person,  sent  by  Cardinal  Allen  to  fetch  back  two 
priests,  Warford  and  Almond,  who  Mere  to  be  sent 
elsewhere  as  spies  for  Father  Persons,  and  more 
especially  to  persuade  another  priest,  named  John 
Fixer,  to  return  to  Allen,  who  promised  to  make 
him  his  chaplain,  it  having  been  discovered  that 
Fixer  was  secretly  giving  information  to  Lord 
Burghley.  He  was,  he  said,  accompanied  from 
Paris  by  several  English  priests,  whom  he  had  not 
previously  known,  and  he  had  heard  the  directions 
given  to  them  by  their  guide  in  Paris  as  to  the 
person  they  should  seek  in  London.  He  had  little 
to  tell  about  the  English  refugees  in  Flanders,  but 
had  heard  Morgan  (who  belonged  to  the  Scottish 
faction)  inveigh  against  Allen  and  Persons,  and 
knew  of  the  efforts  which  he,  Morgan,  and  the  late 
Bishop  of  Ross   had  made  to  convince  people  that 

1  He  had  been  captured  at  Easter  1592,  and  we  learn  l-y  the  letter 
of  another  prisoner,  a  spy  named  Beard,  to  Antony  Ashley,  Clerk  of 
the  Council,  that  Young  had  remained  obstinately  silent,  notwithstand- 
ing the  efforts  of  the  justices,  until  August.  Not  even  his  name  could 
be  discovered  until  the  spy  Beard  obtained  access  to  him;  "when 
within  ten  days  I  discovered  him  altogether"  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv. 
p.  403).  Thenceforward  the  prisoner  seems  to  have  been  only  too  eager 
to  give  information  in  return  for  his  own  safety. 


92  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

the  Scots  King  would  come  over  to  the  Catholic  side. 
Sir  William  Stanley,  on  the  contrary,  had  in  his 
hearing  breathed  fire  and  fury,  and  talked  at  large 
of  the  plans  for  the  coming  invasion  of  England. 
Young  ends  his  first  vrritten  confession  by  asking 
pardon  if  he  has  done  wrong,  pleads  youth  and 
evil  counsel  of  others,  and  promises  to  divulge  the 
names  of  all  the  Seminarists  he  can  discover. 

This  was  all  very  well  as  far  as  it  went,  though 
most  of  it  was  untrue.  Mr.  Justice  Young  and  the 
spy  Beard  knew  that  if  so  much  as  this  was  divulged 
voluntarily,  a  good  deal  probably  remained  behind. 
An  artful  subterfuge  then  brought  to  Lord  Burghley 
a  long  document,  written  by  the  prisoner,^  saying 
that  he  had  already  imparted  to  the  Privy  Council 
as  much  as  his  life  is  worth,  and  will  now  make  a 
clean  breast  of  the  whole  business.  He  confessed 
now  that  he  was  a  priest,  and  gave  his  real  name 
and  place  of  education.  He  bad,  he  said,  gained  a 
Queen's  scholarship  at  Durham,  and  had  left  that 
city  in  1579  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  proceeding 
to  Cambridge  University.  Lodging  in  London  in 
the  house  of  Dr.  Barrett  for  two  months,  he  and 
his  host  then  went  to  Flanders  via  Gravesend  and 
Dover,  under  the  pretext  of  joining  the  army  under 
the  command  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  lover  and  ^anc^', 
the  Duke  d'Alen9on.  Once  safe  across  the  Channel, 
he  proceeded  to  Rheims  (where  Allen's  seminary 
then  was),  on  the  advice  of  one  Darbishire,  a  Jesuit. 
There  he  remained  for  a  time  studying  for  the 
priesthood,  but  with  great  repugnance,  as  he  says. 
Subsequently  he  was  sent  to  the  English  College  in 

1  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.  p.  403,  and  State  Papers,  Domestic,  cxlii. 


"DINGLEY'S"    CONFESSIONS  93 

Rome,  where  he  studied  for  seven  years  ;  was  re- 
ceived into  the  priesthood,  and  preached  in  Latin 
before  the  Pope.  He  was  then  destined  to  read 
divinity  at  Ilheims  ;  but  before  he  could  leave  Rome, 
Father  Persons  begged  the  Rector  at  Rheims  not 
to  send  any  priests  to  England  in  that  year  (1589), 
but  to  let  him  have  some  for  his  new  college  at 
Valladolid.  Young  was  accordingly  sent  thither 
with  four  other  priests  (one  of  them  being  probably 
the  Father  Cecil  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken), 
and  found,  as  yet,  only  four  students,  though  the 
number  rapidly  increased  to  thirty-six.  Young  has 
much  to  say  of  the  manner  in  which  Persons  whipped 
round  amongst  the  Spanish  nobility  to  obtain  funds 
for  his  new  seminary,  and  the  prisoner  himself  was 
designated  one  of  six  priests  who  were  to  proceed 
to  England  on  a  similar  mission.  The  travelling 
disguise  assumed  by  four  of  the  priests  on  this  occa- 
sion was  that  of  English  galley-slaves  captured  in 
the  English  expedition  to  Portugal,  and  now  re- 
leased by  the  Spaniards,  whilst  Young  and  another 
were  to  sail  in  Scottish  ships  and  land  in  Scotland, 
whence  they  were  to  find  their  way  into  England. 
But  Y^oung  had  enough  of  it  by  the  time  he  got 
into  the  Downs,  and  "  being  unable  to  bear  the 
seas,"  he  landed  at  night  and  trusted  to  Providence 
for  safety.  All  that  night  he  lay  under  a  hedge, 
and  his  first  care  in  the  morning  was  to  change  his 
outlandish  Spanish  garb  for  clothes  less  conspicuous. 
He  had  money,  apparently,  but  knew  nobody  in 
London.  He  recollected,  however,  to  have  heard 
Father  Persons  tell  the  priests  who  were  sent  direct 
to  England  as  galley-slaves  that  they  were  to  seek 


94  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

a  certain  Mr.  Wiseman  who  lived  at  Garnet's  Rents, 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  and  in  his  presence  to  break  a 
cake  as  a  token. ^  Young  accordingly  sought  the 
person  indicated,  and  went  through  the  same  per- 
formance, being  welcomed,  and  forwarded  to  Lady 
Throgmorton's  house  at  Upton,  beyond  Stratford,  in 
Essex.  In  her  house  he  stayed  for  a  month,  minis- 
tering and  saying  Mass  ;  but  the  lady  was  fright- 
ened at  a  new  proclamation  against  harbouring 
priests,  and  giving  him  a  change  of  linen  and 
twenty  marks,  arranged  that  he  should  sleep  at  an 
inn  in  London,  taking  his  meals  at  the  house  of  a 
Catholic  family  named  Mompeson,  in  Clerkenwell ; 
the  excuse  for  his  presence  there  being  his  supposed 
courting  of  a  "  young  gentlewoman "  living  there 
called  Mrs.  Temperance  Davis.  Whilst  he  and 
another  priest  were  sitting  at  table  in  this  house, 
the  constables  suddenly  appeared  at  the  door  to 
search  for  such  quarry.  Young  fled  by  the  back 
way,  and  contrived  to  run  to  earth  at  the  hospitable 
house  of  Wiseman  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  ;  but  the 
other  priest  (Patterson)  was  captured  and  shortly 
afterwards  was  executed.  The  fugitive  was  then  sent 
to  board  at  the  house  of  one  Cole,  "  a  schoolmaster, 
at  the  upper  end  of  Holborn  ; "  but  he  also  soon  got 
into  trouble,  and  again  Young  fled  to  Wiseman. 
The  latter,  however,  had  to  leave  town,  and  the 
priest  went  to  lodge  at  the  White  Swan,  Holborn 
Bridge.  There  was  no  safety  in  inns,  for  they  were 
too  well  watched,  and  Young  was  promptly  taken 

1  The  Wiseman  family,  most  of  whom  seem  to  have  lived  in  Essex, 
were  notable  recusants,  and  some  of  them  suffered  .severely  from  the 
delation  of  Young. 


"DINGLEY'S  '    CONFESSIONS  95 

prisoner  and  lodged  in  the  Compter  at  Easter,  1592, 
just  as  he  was  about  to  set  out  on  horseback  to  his 
native  county  of  Durham,  in  the  hope  of  finding  it 
"more  quiet  than  this." 

These  personal  confidences,  however  interesting, 
were  of  less  importance  to  the  Government  than 
news  of  conspiracies.  The  authorities  had  already 
detected  Young  in  many  misstatements,  and  he  was 
pressed  further.  lie  was  a  mere  youth,  he  protested, 
and  had  not  been  admitted  into  the  company  of  the 
serious  men  of  his  college,  but  he  had  heard  Allen 
say  that  he  had  dissuaded  Ballard  as  earnestly  as  he 
could  from  the  plot  for  which  he  suflfered  {i.e.  the 
Babington  plot) ;  "  but  that  Ballard  was  rather  ad- 
dicted to  Morgan  and  Charles  Paget."  He  (Young) 
had  been  told,  too,  that  the  King  of  Scots  had  turned 
Catholic,  and  all  the  Scottish  Catholic  bishops  were 
to  be  recalled  to  their  sees,  which  happy  event  had 
been  greatly  aided  by  Dr.  Lewis,  Bishop  of  Cassano. 
"  Yet  after  the  death  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  both 
Allen  and  Persons  sought  to  stir  up  the  Spanish 
King,  who  never  could  be  persuaded  to  attempt 
anything  against  England  in  her  lifetime,  objecting 
that  he  should  travail  for  others.  She  being  dead, 
the  expectation  was  increased  for  the  last  invasion." 

All  this  was  obviously  merely  the  loose  gossip  of 
past  events  by  men  who  were  not  behind  the  scenes  ; 
but  the  supply  of  it  was  apparently  unlimited.  The 
names  of  Englishmen  ostensibly  in  the  Spanish  ser- 
vice, their  movements,  salaries,  and  conversations 
are  given  ad  nauseam;  but  as  many  of  these  men 
were  actually  in  Burghley's  pay,  and  sent  him 
regular  advices,  we  can  imagine  the  grim  smile   of 


96  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

the  aged  Lord  Treasurer  as  he  read  this  vague  tittle- 
tattle  of  their  dangerous  plans.  Still,  as  has  already 
been  pointed  out  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  declara- 
tions of  even  this  poor  sieve  of  a  man  and  his  like 
were  useful  and  valuable  when  they  repeated  the 
threats  of  invasion  constantly  uttered  by  Persons, 
Stanley,  and  others,  and  exaggerated  the  great  pre- 
parations that  were  being  made  in  Spain  with  that 
object.  Young  prayed  abjectly  for  his  liberation  in 
return  for  his  abundant  declarations.  His  misery, 
his  long  imprisonment,  his  penitence,  and  his  ar- 
dent desire  to  serve  as  a  spy  on  his  fellow-Catholics, 
were  repeated  at  intervals  for  many  months  ;  but  he 
had  to  be  squeezed  quite  dry  before  they  let  him  go. 
Lists  had  to  be  furnished  by  him  of  every  Catholic 
he  had  ever  known,  at  home  or  abroad.  All  those 
who  had  sheltered  him,  and  even  their  friends,  had 
to  be  denounced.  Fellow-priests,  who  had  left  Spain 
or  Italy  on  the  English  Mission,  had  to  be  betrayed, 
every  one  of  them,  before  at  length  the  wretched 
man  saw  the  doors  of  his  prison  open,  and  he  was 
free  to  carry  his  craven  heart  whithersoever  he 
willed,  envying  till  his  dying  day  his  firmer  brethren 
who  stood  steadfast  even  to  death  and  martyrdom. 

Sometimes  the  pressure,  such  as  was  exerted  on 
Young,  .gave  a  clue,  even  a  slight  one,  to  some- 
thing that  seemed  to  be  really  important,  and  in  that 
case  it  is  curious  to  trace  the  tortuous  devices  by 
which  more  information  was  obtained.  The  clever 
decipherer  and  forger,  Thomas  Phellips,  who  was 
ostensibly  the  collector  of  customs  at  Leadenhall, 
was  rarely  at  a  loss  for  a  plan,  by  means  of  which 
fresh  avowals  could  be  extracted  from  unsuspecting 


HOW  evidf:nce  was  obtained    97 

accomplices ;  and  TopclifFe,  the  examining  justice, 
had  a  persuasive  way  with  the  prisoners  themselves, 
that  rarely  failed. 

As  an  instance  of  how  a  case  was  worked  up  by 
such  devices,  the  notes  of  Phellips  respecting  a 
Catholic  named  Bisley  are  curious.  He  sets  down 
in  his  memoranda  that  he  had  learnt  that  Bisley 
had  been  sent  secretly  to  England  late  in  the  year 
1 59 1  by  Sir  William  Stanley  and  Hugh  Owen  ;  ^ 
and,  as  he  carried  letters,  he  is  to  be  asked,  if  he 
can  be  caught,  whether  he  had  not  a  message  for 
a  priest  named  Birket  or  Burke,  who  Phellips  knew 
to  have  been  lodging  at  the  house  of  an  Italian  who 
kept  a  bowling-alley  in  Bishopsgate  Street,  on  the 
corner  of  what  is  now  the  thronging  Liverpool 
Street.  Bisley  was  said  to  have  brought  letters  to 
be  delivered  to  one  Webster,  a  recusant  who  had 
long  been  a  prisoner  in  the  Marshalsea  ;  but  Phellips 
suspected  that  Webster  was  to  deliver  some  of  them 
to  Birket ;  and  Bisley,  if  he  could  be  caught,  was  to 
be  charged  that  this  was  the  case.  Bisley  on  former 
occasions  was  known  to  have  brought  letters  for 
Webster  secreted  inside  the  buttons  of  his  garments, 
one  of  which  letters,  it  was  said,  threatened  to  kill 
the  Queen,  Bisley  being  promised  a  pension  by 
Stanley  and  Owen  when  he  came  back  to  Flanders. 
This  much  Phellips  had  been  told  by  his  spies 
abroad,  and  the  knowledge  already  in  hand  was 
used  as  a  lever  to  obtain  more.  The  next  move 
was  for  Phellips's  tool,  Sterrell,  alias  St.  Main,  alias 
Robinson,  a  pretended  Catholic,  who  served  as  a  spy 
to  the  English  refugees  in  Flanders,  and  wrote  to 

>  State  Papers,  Domestic,  ccxl. 

G 


98  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

them  only  what  Phellips  dictated,  to  write  in  the 
name  of  Hobinson,  as  from  Liege,  to  a  Catholic 
named  Morice  at  the  Swan  in  Bishopsgate  Without 
(May  1592),  telling  him,  amongst  many  other 
things,  at  Phellips's  dictation,  that  "the  plot  in 
England  is  to  kill  the  Queen.  Stanley  has  sent  in 
one  Bisley  of  Flushing,  sometime  a  soldier  there, 
a  little,  short,  black  fellow  with  a  red  face."  This 
letter  was  of  course  written  for  the  purpose  of 
being  intercepted  and  shown  to  Webster,  and  also 
to  Bisley  and  any  of  his  companions  if  they  were 
taken.  In  their  confusion  thev  miffht  blurt  out 
further  admissions  or  confirmation.  Webster  seems 
to  have  denied,  probably  with  truth,  all  knowledge 
of  Bisley  and  of  the  alleged  plot.  But  he  was  care- 
fully watched  by  spies  in  the  Marshalsea,  and  his 
every  word  repeated  by  them  to  Mr.  Justice  Young. 
Months  afterwards,  in  September  1592,  a  fellow- 
prisoner,  a  spy,  was  walking  in  the  prison  yard 
with  him,  when  Webster  in  weariness  asked,  "  Shall 
we  never  be  released ? "  "I  fear  not,"  replied  the 
spy.  Whereupon  W^ebster  said  that  "  ere  long  God 
or  the  devil  would  fetch  her  and  them  that  detained 
them ;  then  asking  him  (the  spy)  to  see  that  no  one 
was  looking,  Webster  went  and  talked  to  Snap,  the 
priest,  at  his  chamber  window."  This  was  some- 
thing. It  was  thought  to  inculpate  Webster  in  the 
supposed  murder  plot,  and  the  spy-prisoner  was 
again  set  to  work.  In  a  few  weeks  he  could  inform 
the  Justice  that  when  a  prisoner  named  Brownell 
was  told  that  a  certain  man  had  been  committed  at 
the  previous  Easter  for  seeking  to  kill  the  Queen, 
he  had  replied  "that  many  were  committed  for  that, 


THE   MANUFACTURE   OF   "PLOTS"    99 

but  some  one  would  make  an  end  of  her  one  day, 
and  then  all  those  commitments  would  be  void  and 
all  would  be  well."  When  the  apprentices  were 
unruly  and  would  have  broken  up  the  Marshalsea, 
Richard  Webster,  another  prisoner,  said  '*  that  they 
could  not  agree  because  they  had  no  head,  but  if 
they  had  one  all  the  Commons  would  rise,  for  they 
all  disliked  the  State  and  Government."  This  Avas 
another  step,  and  by  the  23rd  December  matters 
were  sufficiently  advanced  for  Webster  himself  to 
be  again  brought  before  Justice  Young  for  examina- 
tion vt'ith  another  prisoner  named  Faux.  Webster 
said  the  only  Bisley  he  knew  was  the  priest  of  that 
name  who  had  married  him  in  the  Marshalsea  three 
or  four  years  ago ;  but  as  Young,  the  magistrate, 
noted  that  this  priest  Bisley  had  been  executed, 
he  was  evidently  not  the  man  they  sought.  Both 
the  prisoners  denied  the  truth  of  the  spy's  revela- 
tions about  them,  and  Faux  was  tortured  without 
result.  Webster  had  already  confessed  enough  to 
hang  him,  wrote  the  magistrate,  but  he  would  be 
])ut  to  the  torture  to  obtain  more  if  the  Attorney- 
General  decided.  The  other  prisoner  Brownell, 
who  had  spoken  about  killing  the  Queen,  was  "  too 
sick  to  be  dealt  with  until  he  waxed  stronger." 
Whether  Webster  was  put  to  the  torture  is  not 
certain,  though  he  probably  was  from  the  sequel, 
for  he  was  afterwards  removed  to  Bridewell  and 
Lord  Keeper  Puckering  took  him  in  hand.  To 
him  Webster  subsequently  wrote  a  letter  (19th 
January  1593)  again  solemnly  asserting  his  inno- 
cence of  any  crime  against  the  Queen  or  State. 
He  begs  most  earnestly  that  his  every  act  and  word 


loo  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

may  be  scrutinised  and  his  innocence  made  manifest. 
But  the  effect  of  the  pressure  put  upon  him  is  seen 
in  the  continuation  of  his  letter.  He  had  probably 
under  torture  repeated  to  Puckering  certain  treason- 
able speeches  he  had  heard  others  pronounce,  and 
had  promised  to  play  the  spy  or  agent  provocateur 
upon  his  friends ;  and  he  made  this  a  reason  for 
begging  that  he  himself  might  be  cleared  from  the 
capital  offence  with  which  he  was  charged.  "If 
my  innocency  be  not  known,"  he  wrote,  "  your 
Lordship  may  think  that  I  told  you  of  the  speeches 
more  for  fear  of  my  life  than  for  service  to  her 
Majesty  or  the  country.  Until  this  matter  of  mine 
be  thoroughly  sifted  I  cannot  go  forward  with  the 
great  good  likely  to  be  procured  to  the  land." 
What  eventually  happened  to  him  does  not  appear ; 
he  probably  suffered  death  after  thus  giving  fresh 
clues  to  other  "plots"  which  would  be  worked  up 
like  that  with  which  he  was  charged.  Public  indig- 
nation and  hatred  were  in  this  way  constantly  kept 
at  fever-heat  against  a  party  which  was  represented 
as  constantly  plotting  against  the  life  of  the  Queen, 
though  one  loose  hint  of  a  spy  or  an  impatient 
word  from  a  distracted  prisoner  was  evidently  a 
sufficient  foundation  for  the  manufacture  of  a  suc- 
cession of  such  plots. 

But  though  many  of  the  so-called  murder  con- 
spiracies for  which  perfectly  innocent  Catholics 
suffered  were  thus  elaborated,  there  were  un- 
doubtedly several  that  were  in  some  degree 
dangerous  and  real.  They  all  emanated  from  the 
same  small  group  of  extremists  in  Flanders,  with 
the  more   or  less   open   connivance  of  the  Spanish 


THE    MURDER   PLpTS,:  loi 

Ministers  there — though  probably  at  this  juncture 
without  the  aid  of  Philip  himself.  The  proposed 
perpetrators  were  usually  some  of  the  wild,  reck- 
less swashbucklers,  English  or  Irish,  who  swaggered, 
drank,  and  diced  in  the  Flemish  cities.  There 
seems  to  have  been  no  attempt  at  concealment. 
We  are  told  that  these  plots  were  regularly  dis- 
cussed at  a  council  table  at  which  sat  such  men 
as  Stanley,  Owen,  Jacques  Francis  (Stanley's  Bur- 
gundian  lieutenant),  and  even  some  of  the  leading 
Jesuit  priests,  such  as  Holt,  Sherwood,  and  Walpole, 
are  said  to  have  given  their  approval.^ 

None  of  these  plots  ever  came  near  commission, 
and  in  the  cases  where  they  were  not  voluntarily 
confessed  the  pressure  exerted  upon  the  captured 
persons  in  prison  or  the  sight  of  the  rack  usually 
brought  out  the  fullest  particulars.  For  instance, 
one  Polwhele  was  captured  on  suspicion  late  in  1593. 
He  had  been  backwards  and  forwards  to  Flanders 
several  times,  having  served  there  as  page  to  Sir 
William  Stanley,  and  afterwards  with  his  lieutenant, 
Jacques  Francis,  who  really  seems  to  have  been  a 
murderous  sort  of  personage  and  the  principal  insti- 
gator of  the  plots.  This  was  sufficient  to  warrant 
the  arrest  of  Polwhele  when  he  appeared  in  Eng- 
land, although  he  had  voluntarily  come  over  from 
Calais,  avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  unburdening  his 
conscience  to  Lord  Burghley  of  some  dark  secret, 
and  had  sought  the  aid  of  Mr.  Jefferys,  the  English 
Consul  there,  to  enable  him  to  do  so.  The  story  he 
had  to  tell  was  that  in  the  summer  of  1593  Jacques 

1  See  "  The  Estate  of  the  English  Fugitives,"  an  extremely  curious 
contemporary  pamphlet  giving  an  account  of  the  lives  of  the  refugees. 


joz  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

urged  him  to  go  to  England  and  kill  the  Queen, 
saying  "  that  no  action  could  be  more  glorious  than 
cutting  oif  so  wicked  a  member,  who  is  likely  to 
overthrow  all  Christendom."  Soon  after  this  hap- 
pened, Hesketh  ^  was  sent  to  England,  and  thereupon 
Polwhele  seems  to  have  gone  to  Father  Sherwood 
and  offered  to  perform  the  task  that  Jacques  had 
suggested,  if  a  fit  opportunity  occurred.  "  Jacques 
said  it  was  a  movement  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It 
could  only  be  done  when  the  Queen  went  for  a 
walk  or  to  the  sermon :  then  she  might  be  shot  or 
stabbed,  as  she  takes  no  care.  If  he  could  only 
escape  for  two  or  three  hours  he   would  be   safe." 

1  It  will  be  recollected  that  when  Persons  sent  Father  Cecil  to  Eng- 
land from  Spain  on  his  first  mission  in  April  1591,  he  instructed  him 
in  covert  terms  to  sound  secretly  Lord  Strange — son  and  heir  of  the 
Earl  of  Derby — as  to  his  willingness  to  co-operate  with  a  Catholic 
invasion.  As  the  nobleman  was  a  descendant  of  the  Duchess  of 
Suffolk,  sister  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  one  of  the  possible  claimants  to 
the  Crown,  his  countenance  would  have  been  of  great  importance. 
Father  Cecil  on  that  occasion  betrayed  the  cause  to  Burghley,  and 
found  an  excuse  for  not  fulfilling  his  mission  ;  but  in  the  autumn  of 
1593  a  Catholic  futi,itive  gentleman  from  Over-Darwin,  Lancashire, 
who  knew  the  Earl  of  Derby,  was  sent  by  Sir  William  Stanley  to 
negotiate  wiih  the  Eail  and  his  heir  as  to  their  acceptance  of  the  posi- 
tion of  Pretenders.  Sir  William  Stanley,  in  his  instructions  to 
Hesketh,  strongly  hints  that  he  is  supported  in  his  proposal  by  the 
King  of  Spain  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.  p.  462).  Hesketh  performed 
his  office  apparently  less  cautiously  than  he  was  instructed  to  do,  and 
the  Earl  of  Derby,  fearing  a  trap,  immediately  denounced  him  to  the 
Government  (October  1593).  The  Earl  died  a  day  or  two  afterwards 
mysteriously,  it  was  said  by  poison  ;  but  the  new  Earl  followed  up  the 
prosecution  of  Hesketh  vigorously,  and  after  much  torture  and  suffer- 
ing of  the  prisoner  to  wring  out  avowals  of  supposed  murder  plots,  for 
which  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  shadow  of  foundation,  the 
unfortunate  emissary  was  done  to  death  as  a  traitor  at  St.  Alban's. 
Standen,  an  English  Catholic  spy  of  Essex's,  wrote  to  another  Catholic 
of  similar  sort  in  France  in  reference  to  Hesketh's  execution,  "A 
worthy  piece  of  work,  suitable  to  the  setters  on"  {i.e.  Stanley,  &c.), 
"  who  of  the  Catholics  here  at  home  are  accursed." 


POLWHELE'S    CONFESSIONS  103 

He  was  told  lirst  to  go  to  Calais,  and  from  thence 
to  seek  the  aid  of  Fortescue  or  Sterrell,^  who  were 
at  court  to  obtain  permission  to  go  to  England. 
There  he  was  to  obtain  access  to  Lord  Burghley, 
and  inveigh  violently  against  Jacques,  and  in  this 
way  ingratiate  himself  at  court. 

Every  incentive  to  the  proposed  assassin's  zeal 
seems  to  have  been  used  by  Jacques  and  his  friends, 
tie  was  directed  to  go  to  confession  and  to  obtain 
absolution  before  he  started,  and  sixty  crowns  were 
given  him  for  his  journey.  At  the  same  time  as 
Polwhele's  advent,  an  Irishman,  named  John  Annias, 
was  also  captured  coming  into  England.  The  first 
accusation  against  him  was  that  of  intending  to  set 
fire  to  the  Queen's  ships,  by  means  of  the  same  sort 
of  fireballs  with  which  the  former  attempt  had  been 
made  at  Dieppe.  According  to  Polwhele's  story,  he 
had  met  Annias  and  his  associate  in  the  former  fire- 
plot,  Thompson,  at  Lille  on  the  way  to  England, 
They  had  fallen  into  talk  about  another  Irishman, 
named  Patrick  Collen,  who  had  recently  crossed 
over  to  England.  Thompson  had  said  that  Collen 
had  been  sent  over  to  kill  the  Queen,  but  that  he 
(Thompson)  would  do  it  before  he  could."     He  was, 

1  This  was  walking  into  the  lion's  den  indeed,  for  Sterrell  was  the 
spy-tool  of  Phellips. 

"  As  au  instance  of  the  looseness  with  which  suggestions  of  such 
plots  were  made  by  the  fugitives  in  Flanders,  it  may  be  cited  that 
when  Annias  was  under  examination  he  said  that  " he  supposed  Pol- 
whele  and  Collen  came  to  England  to  find  means  to  kill  the  Queen  or 
the  Lord  Treasurer."  When  asked  why  he  "  sui)po3ed  "  such  a  thing, 
he  replied  that  "  when  any  one  conies  from  Brussels  to  England,  they 
{i.e.  the  English  in  Flanders)  think  it''  must  be  for  some  service, 
and  some  say  to  kill  the  Queen  or  the  Lord  Treasurer,  or  the  King  of 
Portugal,  or  some  of  the  secretaries"  (Examination  of  John  Annias, 
January  1594,  State  Papers,  Dom.). 


I04  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

he  boasted,  going  to  England  then  on  his  errand, 
and  carried  a  jewel  to  present  to  the  Earl  of  Essex, 
whose  follower  he  would  become/  They,  Annias 
and  Thompson,  said  they  were  going  shares  in  the 
reward,  which  would  be  very  large.  The  three  rogues 
seem  to  have  known  each  other's  business  perfectly, 
and  each  one  intrigued  to  get  rid  of  the  other  two  ; 
and,  as  they  said,  to  have  alone  the  "honour"  and 
profit  of  killing  the  Queen ;  but,  as  it  afterwards 
appeared,  to  be  the  first  to  betray  the  others. 
Thompson  told  Polwhele  that  Annias  meant  to  rob 
him,  whilst  Annias  said  that  Thompson  intended 
to  rob  and  "sell"  them  both.  The  end  of  it  seems 
to  have  been  that  Thompson  got  Polwhele's  purse 
and  prudently  stayed  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea ; 
whilst  Polwhele  had  to  depend  upon  the  charity  of 
the  English  Consul  at  Calais  to  send  him  over  and 
tell  his  story.  Thenceforward,  for  months,  Polwhele, 
Collen,  and  Annias,  each  unknown  to  the  others, 
continued  to  unfold  their  stories  in  gaol.  First, 
the  plan  was  to  fire  the  ships,  then  to  kill  An- 
tonio Perez,  to  assassinate  the  Queen  and  Burghley, 
and  what  not.  Collen  really  seems  to  have  been 
hired  in  the  first  instance  to  kill  Antonio  Perez 
with  a  pistol,  at  the  request  of  Jacques  and  the 
Irish  Captain  Eustace,  who,  he  says,  warned  him 
not  to  undertake  anything  against  England  or  the 
Queen.      Father  Holt  at  first  had  discountenanced 

1  As  will  be  seen  later,  this  bringing  in  of  the  name  of  the  Earl  of 
Essex  was  made  the  most  of  by  his  enemies.  Another  prisoner  under 
torture  was  made  to  say  that  he  had  heard  Hugh  Owen  attribute  to 
the  Earl  aspirations  to  the  crown.  Hugh  Owen  thought  it  necessary 
categorically  to  deny  this  in  a  letter  to  Phellips,  who  at  that  time 
was  believed  to  be  attached  to  Essex. 


POLWHELE,    COLLEN    AND    ANNIAS   105 

the  murder  of  Terez,  but  he  eventually  assured 
Collen  that  he  might  lawfully  undertake  anything 
for  the  King's  service.  Holt  at  the  same  time 
expressed  to  him  his  sorrow  that  he,  a  Church- 
man, had  been  told  the  exact  nature  of  the  proposed 
enterprise.  But  he  nevertheless  gave  to  Collen 
absolution  and  his  blessing.  The  assassin  Collen, 
having  received  ^30  in  gold  for  the  voyage,  seems 
to  have  felt  some  conscientious  scruples ;  and  on 
his  consulting  another  priest,  an  Irishman  named 
Thomas,  he  had  been  told  that  it  was  unlawful  to 
commit  murder  in  any  circumstances.  Annias,  on 
the  other  hand,  testified  to  having  heard  Captain 
Eustace  and  Collen  himself  say  that  the  latter 
had  gone,  not  to  kill  Antonio  Perez,  but  the 
Queen,  "the  highest  Antonio  of  them  all,"  and 
that  the  order  for  doing  so  had  come  from  Spain 
through  Esteban  de  Ibarra,  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  War  then  in  Flanders. 

Whilst  these  two  villains  were  swearing  against 
each  other  as  to  whether  the  Queen  or  Antonio 
Perez  was  to  be  the  victim,  the  first  prisoner, 
Polwhele,  was,  under  Topcliffe's  persuasion,  telling- 
bit  by  bit  a  more  extraordinary  story  still.  There 
was  no  pretence  in  his  case  of  any  one  but  the 
Queen  being  aimed  at.  When,  after  some  hesita- 
tion, he  had  consented  to  do  the  deed,  and  had 
informed  Father  Sherwood  of  that  fact,  the  Jesuit 
had  replied  "that  he  was  a  fool  for  not  undertaking 
it  sooner,  when  he  was  first  moved  to  it,  as  he 
then  might  have  had  the  honour  of  it ;  but  that  now 
Collen  had  gone  on  the  same  service,  and  more 
were   going  every   day."     It   would    be    good  sport 


io6  TREASON    AND   PLOT 

for  them  all,  said  Sir  AVilliam  Stanley,  if  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  were  dead ;  to  which,  according  to  Pol- 
whele,  the  amiable  Jacques  assented,  with  a  sug- 
gestion of  unlimited  loot  during  the  confusion, 
"  He,  Pol  whole,  had  often  heard  Jacques  say  they 
did  not  esteem  killing  Antonio  Perez,  who  had 
done  all  the  hurt  he  ever  could  do  .  .  .  nor  the 
killing  of  any  one  else  save  the  Queen.  A  man," 
he  said,  "  would  run  as  much  risk  in  killing  another 
person  as  the  Queen  herself ;  and  neither  he,  Jacques, 
nor  Father  Holt,  would  deal  with  any  but  for  kill- 
ing the  Queen."  Sherwood,  he  said,  reproved  a 
man  for  undertaking  to  poison  Burghley  :  the  Queen 
alone  was  to  be  aimed  at,  and  Jacques'  intention  to 
have  her  killed  was  public  talk  in  Brussels. 

Then,  in  February  1594,  another  Irishman,  named 
Cahill,  came  over  and  made  a  set  of  avowals  to 
Topcliffe  at  Burghley  House  in  the  Strand  that 
quite  threw  the  aforegoing  revelations  in  the  shade. 
Cahill's  statement  was,  that  an  Irish  gentleman, 
named  Daniel,^  had  informed  him  in  the  previous 
May  that  Sir  William  Stanley,  Father  Holt,  and 
Hugh  Owen  wanted  to  employ  a  tall,  resolute, 
desperate  Irishman  to  go  to  England  and  kill  the 
Queen.     Daniel  suggested  that  Cahill  should  under- 

1  Dauiel  wrote  to  Lord  Burghley  in  the  previous  August  1592  from 
Calais  begging  permission  to  come  over  to  England  safely  to  give  some 
very  important  news.  He  warned  Burghley  at  the  same  time  to  have 
great  vigilance  exercised  in  preventing  any  of  Stanlej'^'s  men  from 
joining  the  Queen's  forces  going  to  France.  Daniel  was  allowed  to 
come  over,  and  doubtless  from  liis  disclosures  the  whole  of  the  other 
proceedings  in  England  arose.  In  February  whilst  Daniel's  tool, 
Cahill,  was  under  examination,  the  former  gave  notice  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  a  plan  to  lire  the  magazine  in  the  Tower,  &c.  (Hatfield 
Paper.^,  vol.  iv.  p.  474). 


CAHILI/S   CONFESSIONS  107 

take  the  task  and  get  the  money ;  whereupon  they 
(Daniel  and  Cahill)  should  both  go  to  England  and 
divulge  the  plot  to  Lord  Burghley.  Cahill  relates 
that  Daniel  then  took  him  to  Fathers  Holt  and 
Archer  at  Brussels,  and  they  and  Hugh  Owen  had 
said  "that  it  would  be  a  most  blessed  deed  for 
him,  a  soldier,  to  kill  the  Queen,  as  by  it  he  would 
win  heaven  and  become  a  saint  if  he  should  be 
killed.  If  he  would  do  it  he  would  be  chronicled 
for  ever."  The  plan  suggested  to  him  was  to  get 
into  the  service  of  a  courtier,  "  and  then  manage 
to  waylay  her  (the  Queen)  in  some  progress,  and 
kill  her  with  a  sword  or  a  dagger  at  a  gate  or 
narrow  passage,  or,  as  she  walked  in  one  of  hei- 
galleries."  Cahill  consented,  the  price  being  fixed 
at  100  crowns  down,  and  2000  and  a  pension  if  he 
were  successful.  Thereupon,  with  the  blessing  of 
Archer,  the  precious  pair,  Cahill  and  Daniel,  went 
to  Calais.  From  there  the  latter  wrote  in  August 
to  Lord  Burghley,  telling  him  he  had  an  important 
revelation  to  make  if  he  was  allowed  to  go  over. 
This  being  accorded  to  him,  he  left  Cahill  in  Calais  ; 
whilst  he  made  the  first  disclosures  in  England. 
In  Daniel's  absence  the  two  .Jesuit  fathers,  Archer 
and  Walpole,  came  to  Calais,  and  finding  Cahill 
still  there,  were  very  angry,  and  said  that  Stanley, 
Owen,  and  Holt  were  indignant  at  so  much  delay. 
Upon  their  urging,  Cahill  consented  to  sail  secretly 
for  England  at  once,  and  landing  at  Margate,  came 
on  to  London  to  join  Daniel,  who  conducted  him 
to  Lord  Burghley.  This  story  was,  of  course,  con- 
firmed in  every  particular  by  Daniel ;  and  it  is  not 
surprising   to    hear,    as    these    plots    were  divulged 


io8  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

through  the  Cecil  organisation,  that  mysterious  hints 
were  indulged  in  that  for  his  own  ends  the  Earl  of 
Essex  was  more  or  less  mixed  up  in  the  nefarious 
plans,  as  had  been  the  case  when  Hesketh  was 
charged  and  executed  for  having  been  sent  over 
by  Stanley  to  sound  the  Earl  of  Derby. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  all  the  declarations  of 
the  prisoners,  there  was  an  eagerness  to  prove  their 
intention  from  the  first  to  betray  their  employers, 
and  that  their  consent  to  kill  the  Queen  had  never 
been  sincere.  There  is,  moreover,  an  utter  absence 
of  proof,  beyond  their  own  respective  assertions  and 
the  conversations  they  had  with  each  other.  Great 
caution  must  therefore  be  exercised  in  accepting  the 
evidence  as  conclusive  as  against  their  alleged  in- 
stigators ;  but  enough  residuum  remains,  after  all 
deductions,  to  give  grounds  for  believing  in  the 
existence  of  an  intention  on  the  part  of  some  of 
them  to  assassinate  the  Queen  if  a  favourable 
opportunity  offered,  or  to  betray  the  plot  if  the 
contrary  was  the  case.  The  weakest  case  is  against 
the  Spanish  Ministers,  whom  all  English  historians 
have  condemned  upon  the  flimsiest  evidence,  and 
especially  against  the  King,  who  certainly  for  the 
moment  would  have  been  seriously  embarrassed  by 
Elizabeth's    sudden   death ;  ^    though   doubtless   the 

1  As  we  have  seen  already,  Philip  was  in  no  position  at  this  time  to 
take  advantage  of  Elizabeth's  death  if  it  had  occurred.  He  was  in 
dire  straits  for  money  ;  his  naval  preparations  were  utterly  inadequate 
for  an  attempt  to  impose  a  nominee  of  his  own  upon  the  English 
nation  as  king  ;  he  had  not  yet  fixed  upon  any  definite  policy  as  to  the 
course  to  be  pursued  on  the  Queen's  death  ;  and,  with  his  methods, 
nothing  could  be  decided  upon  without  infinite  delay  and  considera- 
tion. He  was,  moreover,  straining  every  nerve  fighting  a  losing  battle 
in  France,  both  in  Provence  and  Brittany,  and  had  the  greatest  diffi- 


RESPONSIBILITY   FOR   THE    PLOTS     109 

removal  of  Antonio  Perez,  his  hated  enemy,  or 
of  Don  Antonio,  the  Portuguese  Pretender,  would 
have  been  extremely  welcome  to  him. 

Hugh  Owen  himself  wrote  a  spirited  letter 
(March  1594)  of  disclaimer  to  Phellips,  both  as  to 
the  complicity  of  the  Earl  of  Essex  in  any  negotia- 
tions of  theirs,  and  also  as  to  himself  or  Stanley 
having  urged  or  hired  to  kill  the  Queen  any 
of  the  men  who  had  confessed.  He  had,  he  said, 
never  seen  Collen  in  his  life,  and  had  hardly 
exchanged  a  word  with  Cahill  or  Polwhele  ;  and 
"  neither  he,  Owen,  nor  Sir  William  Stanley  had 
any  more  to  do  with  killing  the  Queen  than  the 
man  in  the  moon."  He  protested  against  the  re- 
putation of  men  like  himself  and  his  associates 
being  taken  away  by  "perjured  jacks,  who  could 
not  in  any  Christian  commonwealth  bear  any  credit 
for  witnesses."  Annias,  he  says,  "  is  a  sorry  fellow, 
who  can  make  white  powder,  but  would  not  kill  a 
cat  if  she  looked  him  in  the  face,"^  who  had 
recently  fled  from  Flanders  for  killing  and  robbing 
a  Spaniard.  Owen  ascribed  to  Daniel  the  invention 
of  the  whole  story  about  Annias,  not  dreaming  that 
the  latter  was  coming  to  England ;  but  on  this 
point,  of  course,  Owen  was  ignorant  of  the  com- 
promising admissions  of  Annias  himself,  and  of 
Polwhele  with  regard  to  him.  The  Duke  of  Parma, 
he  said,  was  constantly  receiving  intelligence  of 
similar  plots  being  hatched  against  him  in  England, 

culty  in  protecting  his  own  coasts  and  commerce.  He  was  not  vet 
nearly  ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  death  of  Elizabeth  ;  and  in  my 
opinion  at  this  period  did  not  desire  her  sudden  removal. 

*  Owen  does  not  attempt  to  deny  the  accusation  of  having  employed 
Annias  to  burn  the  fleet. 


no  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

but  always  disdained  to  notice  them.  "  If  the 
Queen  and  her  council  would  do  the  same,  the)- 
need  never  unquiet  themselves  as  they  do,  nor  so 
easily  permit  false  juries  to  cast  away  so  many 
innocent  men." 

No  doubt  the  confessions  of  the  criminals  were 
in  most  cases  interested  or  exaggerated,  but  Hugh 
Owen's  denials  fail  to  carry  conviction  sufficient  to 
demolish  their  stories  altogether.  An  age  that  saw 
Henry  III.,  Guise,  Orange,  and  Henry  IV.  assassi- 
nated was  not  squeamish  about  killing  princes,  if 
they  were  considered  to  be  in  the  way ;  and  the  few- 
violent  extremists  in  Flanders,  and  more  especially 
Jacques,  belonged  to  the  visionary  type  from  which 
regicides  are  usually  drawn. 

Another  case  of  which  much  stir  was  made 
happened  shortly  before  Owen's  letter  was  written. 
In  January  1594  three  persons  were  caught  whilst 
landing  surreptitiously  near  Flamboro  Head  in 
Yorkshire.  One  of  them  was  found  to  be  Father 
Henry  Walpole,  the  Jesuit  to  whom  Cahill's  con- 
fession had  referred,  the  other  two  being  one  Lingen 
and  Walpole' s  young  brother,  both  of  them  being- 
soldiers  in  Stanley's  regiment.  Young  Walpole  was 
quite  communicative  from  the  first,  but  the  other 
two  prisoners  for  a  time  refused  to  make  any 
admission.  Father  Walpole  was  looked  upon  as 
an  important  capture,  and  in  the  light  of  Cahill's 
reference  to  him  it  was  immediately  assumed  that 
his  coming  to  England  was  for  some  deep  political 
object.  His  brother  confessed  that  the  priest  had 
given  him  six  scraps  of  parchment — which  are 
believed  to  have  been  passports  for  the  conveyance 


FATHER    HENRY   WALPOLE  m 

of  recusants  abroad — and  twelve  letters  ;  which  were 
buried  in  the  sand  of  the  shore  where  the  prisoners 
landed.  Topclitfe  was  sent  down  to  York  to  "  work 
up  "  the  case,  and  disinterred  the  letters,  which,  as 
they  must  have  indicated  many  correspondents  in 
England,  so  much  delighted  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon, 
President  of  the  North,  that  we  are  told  that  "  his 
Lordship  leaped  for  joy,"  when  they  were  slowly 
unfolded,  dried,  and  read.  "  Much  lies  hidden," 
wrote  TopclifFe,  "  in  the  Jesuit  and  Lingen  which 
cannot  be  digged  out  without  further  authority." 
The  "digging  out"  process  was  a  long  and  painful 
one  for  the  wretched  prisoner.^  Again  and  again 
Father  Walpole  protested  that  his  mission  was  a 
purely  religious  one :  he  was  to  administer  the 
sacraments  and  exhort  Catholics  to  remain  faithful, 
obeying  in  all  things  his  superior  in  England,  Father 
Garnet ;  but  he  stoutly  denied  his  sympathy  in 
plans  for  a  Spanish  invasion  or  subjection  of  his 
country;  "which,"  he  said,  "would  ruin  England, 
seeing  the  vicious  and  wanton  character  of  Spani- 
ards." He  repelled,  too,  with  horror  the  suggestion 
that  he  favoured  the  assassination  of  the  Queen. 
But  alas  !  it  was  discovered  that,  when  he  was  about 
to  set  out  from  Spain  on  his  voyage,  Father  Persons 

1  At  one  of  liis  public  examinations  tlie  unhappy  man  said  that  ho 
had  been  put  to  the  torture  no  less  than  fourteen  times.  The  most 
common  torture  to  whith  he  was  subjected  seems  to  have  been  that 
of  suspending  him  by  sharp  irons  cutting  into  the  flesh  by  the  hands 
for  six  or  seven  hours  at  a  time,  the  tips  of  the  toes  just  touching  the 
ground.  A  most  interesting  account  of  Father  Walpole  and  of  the 
awful  cruelty  with  which  he  was  treated — though  probably  not  worse 
than  hundreds  of  other  poor  creatures  equally  innocent  of  treason- 
will  be  found  in  Dr.  Augustus  Jessop's  "  One  Generation  of  a  Norfolk 
House." 


112  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

had  carried  him  to  King  Philip,  who  had  said  to 
him  "  Dios  os  encamina " — God  further  you  ;  and 
he  had  gone  thence  to  Secretary  Esteban  de  Ibarra 
in  Flanders,  from  whom  be  had  received  some 
money.  Besides,  he  confessed  that  he  was  to 
report  himself  to  Garnet,  who,  as  Lord  Burghley 
argued,  "might  haply  commit  to  him  some  matter 
of  the  State."  ^  In  vain  he  prayed  for  mercy,  for 
mere  life.  Pie  would  conform  to  the  law,  and 
preach  in  the  English  Church  according  to  the 
word  of  the  Gospel.  He  would  betray  all  his 
associates,  break  all  his  vows.  It  was  of  no  avail : 
the  unfortunate  Jesuit  was  carried  to  York  again 
with  others  in  like  case,  and  there  suffered  the 
death  of  a  traitor."  There  was  not  a  shred  of 
evidence,  except  Cahill's  indirect  implication,  that 
Walpole  was  privy  to  the  murder  plot ;  but  the 
prisoner's  disclaimer  of  any  sympathy  in  a  Spanish 
invasion  of  England  is  valueless,  even  if  true,  as 
the  efforts  of  his  superiors  in  that  direction  are 
abundantly  recorded  under  their  own  hands :  he 
was    a    Jesuit,    bound    blindly  to    obey,   and,   as    a 

1  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.  p.  608. 

-  Father  Walpole  with  another  priest  in  like  case,  Alexander  Rawlins, 
suffered  martyrdom  on  the  7th  April  1595.  The  death  meted  out  to 
all  these  poor  creatures  was  hanging  for  a  short  time  and  then,  often 
before  they  were  unconscious,  disembowelling.  One  of  the  most 
dreadful- — and  apparently  undeserved — punishments  was  that  inflicted 
upon  Father  Robert  Southwell,  the  chaplain  of  Philip,  Earl  of  Arundel, 
who  was  indicted  for  disaffection  at  the  time  of  the  Armada,  but  died 
in  the  Tower.  The  chaplain  Southwell  was  less  fortunate.  There 
was  no  pretence  in  his  case  of  his  having  been  accomplice  in  plots  ;  he 
was  simply  indicted  of  being  a  j^riest  and  of  performing  Mass  in  the 
Queen's  dominions.  After  more  than  three  j^ears  of  the  most  heart- 
rending cruelty  in  the  Tower,  he  was  hanged  and  disembowelled  at 
Tyburn  on  the  21st  February  1595. 


COMPLICITY   IN   THE    PLOTS         113 

member   of    the    Society,    his    personal    sympathies 
went  for  nothing. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  cases  recited  in  this  chapter 
that  the  accusations  that  have  been  repeated  by 
nearly  every  English  historian  from  Elizabeth's  time 
to  our  own,  of  widespread  and  numerous  plots  by 
Catholics  to  assassinate  the  Queen  at  this  period,  are 
to  a  large  extent  unsupported  by  serious  evidence. 
That  a  small  party  of  extreme  men  may  have  counte- 
nanced such  plans  is  certain,  and  that  some  of  the 
wild  schemes  of  regicide,  so  readily  confessed  under 
torture  by  the  intended  assassins  themselves,  were 
real  and  dangerous,  is  more  than  probable,  but  that 
any  large  section  of  Catholics,  clerical  or  lay, 
approved  of  such  means  of  forwarding  their  religious 
objects  is  untrue,  and  an  impartial  examination  of 
the  whole  of  the  known  facts  will  prove  this  to  be 
the  case.  In  accordance  with  the  usual  practice,  it 
was  the  policy  of  the  English  Government  at  the 
time  to  blacken  the  character  and  methods  of  the 
national  enemy  as  much  as  possible,  and  it  was 
especially  the  object  of  the  Essex  party  to  exas- 
perate English  feeling  to  the  point  of  forcing  Eliza- 
beth to  declared  and  open  national  war  with  Philip. 
Religious  feeling,  moreover,  ran  very  high  in  England 
itself,  and  for  the  zealous  Protestants  to  fix  upon 
Catholicism  in  general  the  stain  of  regicide  and  dis- 
loyalty was  a  victory  for  thfiir  own  side  which  could 
not  fail  to  win  over  wavel^s  who  were  Englishmen 
first  and  Catholics  afterwards.  Pamphlets  and 
broadsides,  professing  to  give  the  whole  story  of  the 
various  murder  plots,  were  numerous,  and  have 
formed  the  basis  of  our  historical  relations  for  three 

H 


114  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

centuries ;  but  they  were  written  in  nearly  every 
instance  with  political  or  party  object,  and,  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  were  necessarily  based  upon  an 
imperfect  or  partial  statement  of  the  facts.  The 
opening  of  our  own  and  other  national  archives  in 
recent  years  has  now  enabled  us  to  go  to  the 
original  sources  of  information  and  attempt  to  dis- 
cover the  truth  for  ourselves,  free  from  the  heat  or 
bias  that  warped  the  minds  of  men  who  were  too 
near  the  events  to  see  them  clearly.  The  net 
result  of  such  inquiry  tends  to  show  that,  whilst 
the  methods  and  ethics  of  ruling  statesmen  were 
far  less  scrupulous  than  those  of  our  own  day,  and 
the  valuation  of  human  life  as  balanced  against  the 
welfare  of  the  State  much  lower,  yet  the  moral 
rectitude  of  the  mass  of  the  people  was  quite  as 
high  as  our  own,  and  it  would  be  as  unjust  then  as 
now  to  attempt  to  fasten  upon  the  members  of  a 
particular  Church,  or  upon  any  large  section  of  the 
community,  the  reproach  of  favouring  regicide.  Even 
the  English  refugees  on  the  Continent  must  nearly 
all  of  them  have  been  against  the  commission  of 
such  a  crime,  or  the  Queen  would  never  have  died 
a  natural  death.  We  not  only  have  the  apparently 
sincere  voluntary  declarations  in  innumerable  letters 
from  English  exiles  of  their  loyalty  to  the  sovereign 
and  State,  but  the  fact  remains  that,  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  loose  talk^pf  the  swashbucklers,  no 
serious  attempt  was  ever  really  made  to  commit  the 
murder. 


CPIAPTER    V 

The  conspiracy  of  Dr.  Lopez — The  confessions  of  Yorke  and  "Williams 
— The  alleged  connection  of  the  Spanish  Ministers  with  the  murder 
plots. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  dwelt  upon  a  few 
typical  cases  of  the  so-called  Catholic  murder  plots 
against  the  Queen,  to  show  how  their  importance 
was  exaggerated  for  political  reasons,  and  how  very 
few  of  the  English  Catholics  can  have  sympathised 
with  them.  I  have,  however,  reserved  for  treat- 
ment in  a  separate  chapter  the  two  principal  con- 
spiracies, the  fame  of  which  rang  throughout 
England,  and  aroused  a  fervour  of  loyalty  towards 
the  person  of  the  Queen,  which  surpassed  any  pre- 
vious manifestation  of  the  people's  love  for  her. 
This  outburst  was  partly  in  consequence  of  the 
peculiar  features  of  treachery  with  which  one  of  the 
plots  seemed  to  be  surrounded,  and  the  fact  that 
both  of  them  were  ostensibly  traced  directly  to  the 
instigation  of  the  King  of  Spain  or  his  Ministers. 

We  saw  in  the  last  chapter  that  the  loose  boast- 
ing of  Captain  Eustace,  repeated  by  Annias,  was 
accepted  as  a  reason  for  associating  Esteban  de 
Ibarra,  Philip's  Secretary  of  War  in  Flanders,  with 
the  plot  for  the  Queen's  assassination ;  but  this 
evidence  was  really  so  slight  as  hardly  to  be  worth 
consideration.  It  was  otherwise  with  the  famous 
conspiracy   of  Dr.    Lopez,    and    the    atrocious    plot 


ii6  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

confessed  by  Edmund  Yorke  and  Williams.  The 
first  of  these  two  intrigues  deserves  special  con- 
sideration here,  because  its  apparent  heinousness 
aroused  English  hatred  of  Spain  to  the  highest 
pitch,  and  so  greatly  influenced  subsequent  events, 
and  also  because  my  own  recent  researches  at  Paris 
and  in  Lord  Calthorpe's  MSS.  have  provided  me 
with  new  information  which  must  be  taken  into 
account  before  a  final  historical  verdict  can  be 
given,  either  as  to  the  guilt  of  Lopez  himself,  or 
as  to  the  direct  complicity  of  Philip  IL  in  a  plot  to 
murder  his  sister-in-law.  The  story  is  extremely 
involved,  but  I  will  endeavour  to  reduce  it  to  as 
simple  a  form  as  is  compatible  with  the  statement 
of  all  the  facts  upon  which  a  judgment  should  be 
based.  Contrary  to  the  course  followed  by  other 
writers  on  the  subject,  I  propose  to  set  forth  the 
facts  as  they  were  disclosed,  instead  of  in  the  order 
in  which  they  were  supposed  to  have  happened.'- 
Dr.   Rodrigo   or  Ruy  Lopez,  though  a  professed 

^  The  principal  authorities  upon  the  Lopez  plot  are  as  follows  : — 
State  Papers,  Domestic,  from  vol.  ccxxxviii.  to  cclviii.,'  abstracted  in 
the  Calendars  for  1593-94;  the  Gawdy  Papers,  Hist.  MSS.  Commis- 
missiou  ;  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.  ;  the  Bacon  Papers  in  the  Lambeth 
Palace  Library,  of  which  Birch's  extracts  are  in  B.M.,  Sloane  MSS., 
41 12,  and  are  mostly  published  in  his  "Memoirs  of  Queen  Elizabeth  ;' 
Charles  Yetswirt's  "True  Report  of  Sondry  Horrible  Conspiracies," 
London,  1594  (French  version  of  same;  also  London,  1594); 
Francis  Bacon's  "  True  Report  of  the  Detestable  Treason  ; "  Bishop 
Goodman's  "  Court  of  James  I. ; "  Sir  William  Waad's  detailed  ac- 
count of  the  case  in  Lord  Calthorpe's  Manuscript  Papers  (for  allowing 
me  access  to  which  I  desire  to  thank  his  Lordship)  ;  an  excellent 
article  called  "  The  Conspiracy  of  Dr.  Lopez  "  in  the  English  Historical 
Review,  for  July  1894,  by  the  Rev.  Arthur  Dimock ;  and  Mr.  Sidney 
Lee's  article  on  "  Lopez  "  in  the  "  Dictionary  of  National  Biography." 
There  is  also  a  contemporary  statement  of  the  whole  case  drawn  up  by 
Coke,  the  Solicitor-General,  in  Harl.  MSS.,  B.M.,  871. 


THE   LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  117 

Protestant,  was  one  of  those  Iberian  Jews  through 
whom  the  medical  lore  of  the  ancient  Orient  filtered 
to  the  Western  world.  The|^persecution  of  this  race 
in  the  Peninsula  had  driven  them  forth  with  their 
learning  and  traditions  to  seek  safety  in  other  lands  ; 
and  in  the  sixteenth  century  no  court  in  Europe 
lacked  a  physician  of  this  sort,  who  w^as  reported 
to  possess  secrets  of  science  unattainable  to  the 
Gentile  practitioners  in  their  profession.  vSuch 
men  naturally  attracted  the  dislike  and  jealousy  of 
their  medical  rivals,  both  on  account  of  their  mys- 
terious skill  and  their  outcast  race.  They  were 
generally  self-seeking  intriguers,  who  often  wormed 
themselves  into  the  confidence  of  high  personages, 
and  added  to  their  wealth  and  importance  by  making 
themselves  useful  as  intermediaries  in  affairs  of  state, 
where  their  knowledge  of  tongues  and  their  con- 
fidential position  gave  them  an  advantage  over  others. 
Lopez  had  lived  in  London  since  the  beginning  of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  first  in  Broad  Street  in  the  city  of 
London,  then  in  Wood  Street,  and  finally  in  Mount- 
joy's  Inn,  Holborn.  Gradually  he  became  a  leading 
physician,  and  obtained  the  patronage  of  Leicester, 
whose  household  doctor  he  was.  Leicester  was 
accused  by  his  enemies,  and  notably  by  Father  Per- 
sons, of  a  propensity  for  removing  inconvenient 
friends  or  rivals  by  poison,  and  naturally  his  house- 
hold physician  shared  his  evil  repute  in  this  respect. 
The  English  medical  men  of  the  time  shrugged 
their  shoulders  and  turned  up  their  eyes  when  Lopez 
was  mentioned,  and  it  became  an  accepted  fact  that 
the  Portuguese  Jew  had  more  skill  in  intrigue  and 
self-advertisement  than  in  medicine,  and  knew  more 


ii8  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

about  poisoning  than  healing.  But  with  the  patron- 
age of  Leicester  and  Walsingham,  both  members 
of  the  Puritan  party,  Lopez  continued  to  prosper 
greatly  in  spite  of  frowns  and  sneers.  In  1586 
he  was  appointed  principal  physician  to  the  Queen, 
he  was  house-physician  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hos- 
pital, and  was  to  all  appearance  a  person  of  wealth, 
though  he  was  really  impecunious.  In  the  pursuit 
of  profit  he  was  certainly  indefatigable.  He  had  a 
monopoly  for  a  term  of  years  of  the  importation  of 
shumac  and  aniseed  into  England ;  his  son  was 
being  educated  at  Winchester  College,  Oxford,  by 
means  of  the  revenues  of  a  parsonage  granted  to 
him  by  the  Queen ;  one  of  his  wealthy  patients 
gave  him  a  house ;  and  when  Don  Antonio,  the 
Portuguese  Pretender,  came  to  England  to  crave 
the  assistance  of  Elizabeth,  Dr.  Lopez  at  once  be- 
came his  advocate  at  court,  his  interpreter,  and  his 
inseparable  friend — doubtless  for  very  handsome 
consideration,  for  the  Pretender,  at  his  first  coming, 
had  brought  with  him  from  Portugal  some  of  the 
finest  jewels  in  the  world,  and  whilst  they  lasted 
he  was  a  welcome  guest  both  to  Elizabeth  and  to 
Catharine  de  Medici.  Lopez  had  acted  for  his 
patrons,  Leicester  and  Walsingham,  in  presenting 
Antonio's  cause  to  the  Queen  in  the  most  glowing 
colours ;  and,  influenced  by  his  representations, 
Elizabeth  had  been  induced  to  consent  to  the 
joint-stock  company  invasion  of  Portugal  by  an 
English  force  in  1589,  which  ended  in  a  dismal 
fiasco.^      Elizabeth   was   very    angry   with   Antonio 

^  The  history  of  this  expedition  is  fully  related  in  "  The  Year  after 
the  Armada,"  by  the  present  writer. 


THE   LOPEZ   CONSPIRACY  119 

for  the   failure   of  his   hopes,    and  Lopez    was    ex- 
tremely apologetic  for  his  share  in  the  transaction. 

Thenceforward  the  Pretender  was  under  a  cloud, 
the  jewels  were  soon  gone,  and  the  crowd  of 
Portuguese  adherents  who  had  surrounded  him 
whilst  his  hopes  lasted  began  to  fall  away  from 
him.  Many  of  them  had  already  prepared  a  path 
for  their  political  salvation  by  serving  as  spies  in 
England  for  Philip,  and  as  early  as  1586  one  of  them 
had  sent  proposals  to  Mendoza  in  Paris,  and  to 
Philip  himself,  to  have  Don  Antonio  poisoned.^  To 
these  proposals  Idiaquez,  the  King's  secretary,  re- 
plied to  Mendoza  that  "the  deed  might  be  done 
without  scruple  as  Don  Antonio  is  a  rebel,  and  has 
been  condemned  to  death  by  law."  The  murderer 
was  to  have  25,000  or  30,000  ducats,  and  Idiaquez, 
by  order  of  the  King,  urged  that  no  time  should 
be  lost  in  performing  the  service.^  The  proposed 
assassin,  however,  was  a  windbag,  and  the  attempt 
came  to  nothing;  but  in  the  following  year  (1587) 
the  same  spy,  Vega,  mentioned  a  plan  that  he  had 
for  persuading  Dr.  Lopez  to  poison  Don  Antonio,  by 
purging  the  latter  with  Indian  acacia,  instead  of 
with  his  customary  fortnightly  purge.  This  was 
merely  mentioned,  together  with  a  number  of 
similar  vague  ideas  proposed  with  the  same  object 
by  Vega,  and  does  not  in  any  way  commit  Lopez 
yet.  But  shortly  afterwards,  Vega  wrote  that  he 
had  succeeded  in  gaining  over  Dr.  Lopez,  whom  he 
had  "  converted  to  his  Majesty's  service  with  good 
promises,  and  he  has  already  done  wonders  in  trying 

1  MSS.  Siraancas  and  Paris.  Spanish  Calendar,  vols.  iii.  and  iv. 
2  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  p.  12. 


120  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

to  get  him,  Antonio,  turned  out  of  here."  Mendoza, 
in  a  marginal  note  to  this  letter,  scornfully  asks  why- 
Vega,  "  if  he  is  so  sure  of  Dr.  Lopez,  does  not  have 
Don  Antonio  put  out  of  the  way  altogether."  On  a 
mere  hint  which  Don  Gerau  de  Spes  gave  him 
(Lopez),  he  offered  to  purge  a  Portuguese  pilot  who 
was  busy  about  some  expeditions  from  England  to 
the  Indies.  He  took  the  recipe  to  the  apothecary 
himself,  and  on  his  way  he  let  it  fall  out  of  his 
breeches  pocket,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was 
kept  for  six  months  in  the  Tower.  "  I  {i.e.  Mendoza) 
will  say  that  this  other  business  will  be  well  paid  for, 
as  the  doctor  knows,  and  it  may  be  settled  without 
hesitation."  ^  But  Lopez  would  do  nothing  on 
Vega's  word  alone,  and  wanted  a  distinct  pledge  in 
writing  from  Philip  or  his  Ministers.  Distrust  pre- 
vented this  from  being  sent,  and  the  matter  for  the 
time  again  fell  through. 

After  the  wreck  of  the  Armada,  Lopez  busied 
himself  greatly  in  favour  of  the  Spanish  prisoners  of 
the  poorer  sort  from  one  of  the  captured  galleons, 
and  claimed  to  have  rescued  300  of  them  from  the 
gallows  and  secured  their  liberation.  One  of  the 
most  daring  and  effective  of  the  Portuguese  spies 
was  Manuel  de  Andrada,^  who  sent  to  Mendoza  in 

*  Spanish.  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  p.  78.  I  cannot  find  any  confirmation 
of  Mendoza's  statement  that  Lopez  was  imprisoned,  as  he  says,  though 
it  is  no  doubt  true  that  he  agreed  to  poison  the  Portuguese  pilot, 
Bartolome  Bay  on,  in  1571. 

-  Every  writer  on  the  subject  with  whose  works  I  am  acquainted 
lavishes  upon  this  man  vituperative  epithets,  which,  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
are  absolutely  unjustified,  except  that,  like  all  the  dramatis  persotice,  he 
was  a  double  spy.  Motley  calls  him  "  the  famous  Portuguese  poisoner,'' 
which  he  certainly  was  not.  Mr.  Dimock  says  he  "  was  a  ruffian  pure 
and  simple."  The  papers  I  shall  cite  from  Simancas  and  Paris  will 
prove  that  at  all  events  he  told  the  truth. 


THE   LOPEZ   CONSPIRACY  121 

Paris  absolutely  correct  and  full  advice  of  English 
naval  affairs,  and  of  the  movements  of  Don  Antonio. 
He  spoke  PVench  and  Flemish,  and  was  frequently 
sent  by  Don  Antonio  on  missions  abroad,  but  was 
already,  in  1590,  suspected — and  with  good  reason 
— of  playing  false  to  his  master.  During  his  absence 
in  France  on  Don  Antonio's  business,  he  had  left  as 
his  substitute  in  England  another  spy,  one  Eodrigo 
Marques,  and  on  Ar.drada's  arrival  in  London  from 
Dieppe  at  the  beginning  of  1590,  he  had  met  his 
substitute  there,  and  had  learnt  of  Don  Antonio's 
intention  to  fly  from  England  to  seek  the  aid  of  the 
Dutch,  the  Huguenots,  or  even  of  the  Turks,  since 
Elizabeth  was  unwilling  to  help  him  further. 
Andrada  was  secretly  instructed  by  the  Pretender 
to  freight  a  ship  for  this  purpose  to  carry  him  to 
Dieppe,  and  treacherously  stipulated  with  the 
Flemish  skipper,  for  10,000  crowns,  to  alter  his 
course  when  he  was  out  at  sea  and  run  the  vessel 
into  Dunkirk,  where  Antonio  would  be  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Spaniards.  This  pretty  arrangement 
was  conveyed  in  a  letter  written  by  Andrada  to 
Mendoza  in  Paris,  but  the  letter  was  intercepted,  and, 
although  written  wnth  sensitive  ink,  was  promptly 
deciphered  by  Phellips,  and  Andrada  was  clapped 
into  jail.  Marques  flying  into  hiding  until  the  hue 
and  cry  was  over,  and  then  escaping  into  France. 

By  the  strenuous  intervention  of  Dr.  Lopez,  An- 
drada was  released,  instead  of  being  hanged  by  Don 
Antonio  ;  and  when  he  arrived  in  France,  the  spy 
had  a  strange  story  to  tell  the  Spanish  ambassador. 
He  had,  he  said,  made  great  efforts  to  win  over  Dr. 
Lopez,  "who  is  a  person  of  great  influence  with  the 


122  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

Queen  and  Council."  *'  When  Andrada  was  about 
to  leave  England,  the  Doctor  said  that  as  he  had 
saved  Andradra's  life — which  he  certainly  did,  for  if 
he  had  not  interceded  for  him  nothing  else  could 
have  rescued  him — he  would  confide  in  him  that  he 
had  already  been  approached  by  Mendoza  for  the 
purpose  of  putting  Don  Antonio  out  of  the  way ;  ^ 
but  he  had  refused,  as  he  was  distrustful.  He  had 
been  the  means,  he  said,  of  saving  from  the  gallows 
over  three  hundred  Spaniards  from  Don  Pedro's  ship, 
who  had  been  sentenced  to  be  hanged ;  and  yet,  for 
all  this,  he  had  never  received  any  favour  whatever 
from  his  Majesty  (Philip).  He  said  that  God  had 
ordained  my  imprisonment,  and  made  him  the  in- 
strument of  my  release,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
able  implicitly  to  trust  me ;  and  since  I  displayed 
so  much  zeal  in  the  service  of  his  Majesty,  I  might 
tell  Don  Bernardino  (Mendoza)  that  if  he.  Dr. 
Lopez,  received  his  Majesty's  orders  to  negotiate 
an  arrangement,  this  was  the  time.  He  was  sure 
that  the  Queen  would  concede  any  terms  that  were 
demanded  of  her,  as  she  was  in  great  alarm.  It 
was  not  necessary  to  write  about  this,  but  that  I 
should  go  to  Calais,  and  write  to  him  from  there  to 
the  effect  that,  bearing  in  mind  the  clemency  the 
Queen  had  extended  to  me,  I  was  discussing  with 
Mendoza  subjects  which  would  redound  greatly  to 
the  advantage  of  her  country ; '  and  that  if  a  pass- 

^  It  is  fair  to  observe  that  on  a  former  occasion  when  Lopez  said 
this  to  Vega,  Mendoza  said  it  was  a  lie  ;  but  there  was  nothing  impro- 
bable in  it. 

-  Letters  to  a  similar  effect  to  this  were  written  by  Andrada  to  Lopez 
in  1 591  from  Calais.  See  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Domestic,  for 
that  year,  where  translations  of  them  will  be  found. 


THE    LOPEZ   CONSPIRACY  123 

port  were  sent  to  me,  enabling  me  to  go  backwards 
and  forwards  freely,  which  passport  Lopez  promised 
should  be  sent  at  once,  I  could  come  secretly  and 
stay  in  his  house  in  London,  where  Secretary  Wal- 
singham  could  come  and  speak  with  me.  Lie, 
Lopez,  had  no  doubt  that  the  Queen  would  come 
to  terms  with  his  Majesty,  and  would  force  Don 
Antonio  to  do  the  same,  on  the  conditions  that  his 
Majesty  might  think  just.  She  would  also  cause 
the  Netherlands  to  agree,  and  he,  Lopez,  on  his  part, 
would  endeavour  that  everything  should  be  done  to 
his  Majesty's  satisfaction.  No  one  was  to  know 
that  he  had  discussed  this  matter  with  me.  He 
would  continue  to  let  me  know  the  decisions  arrived 
at  by  the  Queen's  Council ;  and  when  things  were 
sufficiently  advanced  towards  a  conclusion  to  his 
Majesty's  satisfaction,  personages  might  be  sent  to 
make  the  formal  contracts.  He  hopes  that  every- 
thing may  thus  be  settled  speedily  and  advantage- 
ously for  his  Majesty  ;  and  he  promises,  if  the 
matter  be  kept  secret,  that  he  will  inform  me  of 
everything  that  happens  of  interest  to  his  Majesty. 
If  an  arrangement  be  not  arrived  at,  he  promises 
that  Don  Antonio  shall  be  sent  away  from  England, 
or  detained  as  his  Majesty  may  desire,  and  if  the 
present  suggestion  fell  through  he  would  continue 
to  protect  his  Majesty's  interests  in  England.  In 
very  truth  no  person  can  report  so  well  as  he  can, 
in  consequence  of  his  great  influence  with  the 
Queen  and  Council :  but  .  .  .  energy  and  liberality 
are  necessary."  ^ 

It  is  evident  that  Walsingham  was  behind  Lopez 

^  MSS.  Paris  Archives,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


124  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

in  this  suggestion,  and  having  in  view  the  party  to 
which  he  belonged,  we  shall  be  safe  in  assuming 
that  the  suggestion  of  peace  negotiations  was  only 
a  screen  behind  which  agents  might  go  backwards 
and  forwards  to  Spain,  and  obtain  information  of 
armaments,  &c.  But  two  parties  can  play  at  such  a 
game  as  this  ;  and  when  Andrada,  with  Marques  in 
his  company,  proceeded  to  Spain,  apparently  them- 
selves in  all  sincerity,  Mendoza  suggested  to  the 
King,  and  the  latter  approved  of  the  suggestion, 
that  Andrada  shall  be  "  sent  backwards  and  for- 
wards to  England  under  cover  of  the  negotiation, 
so  that  he  may  be  able  to  report  what  is  going  on 
there."  ^ 

This,  however,  was  not  the  only  message  that 
Andrada  took  from  England.  A  brother-in-law 
of  Lopez  (whose  name  is  not  mentioned,  but  who 
was  one  of  several  brothers,  English  Jews,  perhaps 
originally  from  Portugal,  named  Jorge  or  Anes)  had 
professed  to  be  deeply  offended  with  Don  Antonio 
for  having  spoken  ill  of  his  father  (Gonzalo  Jorge  ?), 
and  promised,  if  a  person  were  sent  to  him  with  an 
agreed  token,  he  would  "  kill  Don  Antonio  if  his 
Majesty  desired."  He  disapproved  of  the  peaceful 
suggestion  of  his  brother-in-law  Lopez ;  but,  pend- 
ing the  authority  to  kill  the  Pretender,  he  also  would 
send  information  from  England.  Andrada  protests 
that  "he  never,  on  his  conscience,  urged  the  person 
to  do  this  ;  yet,  seeing  that  although  the  heretic 
Queen  had  been  merciful  to  him,  Don  Antonio  had 
tried  by  all  means  to  have  him  killed,  he,  Andrada, 
in  revenge  for  such  cruelty,  is  now  disposed  to  do 

^  iISS,  Paris  Archives,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


THE   LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  125 

everything  against  Don  Antonio,  even  to  have  him 
killed.  Nothing  will  be  done,  however,  without  his 
Majesty's  orders." 

These  were  the  missions  that  Andrada  carried  to 
Madrid,  in  part  with  the  connivance  of  Walsingham, 
through  Lopez  ;  and  I  have  quoted  thus  fully  from 
these  documents,  which  are  here  used  for  the  first 
time,  because  upon  this  negotiation  was  subsequently 
built  the  accusation  against  Lopez  of  participating  in 
the  plot  to  murder  the  Queen,  and  an  infinity  of 
totally  unsupported  scandal  was  grouped  around  it. 
Andrada  and  Marques,  as  usual  with  persons  of  their 
rank,  did  not  negotiate  in  Spain  with  the  King  him- 
self, though  they  said  they  were  admitted  to  the 
presence  of  Philip,  who  was  seriously  ill  at  the 
Escorial,  to  kiss  his  hand,  as  he  sat  in  his  great 
black  velvet  wheel  chair.  The  peace  suggestions  of 
Dr.  Lopez  were  discussed  with  Don  Cristobal  de 
Moura,  Philip's  favourite  Secretary  of  State,  and, 
although  we  know  that  the  negotiation  was  as 
hollow  on  one  side  as  the  other,  Andrada  was  sent 
back  to  England,  with  full  instructions  to  proceed  in 
the  manner  proposed  by  Mendoza.  Moura's  draft 
instructions  on  the  matter  are  plain  and  precise.  It 
is  probable  that  Andrada  himself  was  to  think  that 
the  Spaniards  were  sincere,  although,  if  such  was 
the  intention,  he  was  really  not  deceived,  and  on  his 
arrival  in  England  at  once  divulged  the  truth  in 
this  respect  to  Lord  Burghley.  The  draft  for  his 
instructions  ^  clearly  demonstrate  that  his  negotia- 
tions in  Spain  were  confined  to  the  matters  he  had 
already  stated  in  writing  to  Mendoza,  namely,  the 

^  See  Appeudix,  p.  162. 


126  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

peace  negotiations,  the  confinement  in  or  expulsion 
from  England  of  Don  Antonio  by  the  influence  of 
Lopez,  the  murder  of  Don  Antonio  by  Lopez's  brother- 
in-law,  unknown  to  the  doctor,  and  the  gaining  of  in- 
formation in  England.  All  these  offers  were  accepted 
by  Philip's  Minister  Moura,  though,  as  will  be  seen, 
not  the  faintest  indication  is  given  in  these  most  secret 
papers  of  any  hint  of  a  plot  to  kill  Elizabeth,  and 
certainly  none  was  included  in  this  negotiation.  Of 
course,  Moura  must  have  known  perfectly  well  that 
such  an  envoy  as  Andrada  would  have  had  no  chance 
of  negotiating  a  peace  with  the  Queen,  and  the  hint 
that  "satisfaction"  must  be  given  by  England,  with- 
out, apparently,  any  concession  on  the  part  of  Spain, 
would  of  itself  have  rendered  the  negotiations  abor- 
tive. The  whole  matter,  indeed,  was  insincere  on 
both  sides,  with  the  object  of  gaining  information. 
When  Andrada  and  Marques  were  about  to  set  out 
for  England,  Moura  only  provided  the  insignificant 
sum  of  300  reals  (  =  ;^6)  for  their  voyage,  and  a  pro- 
mise of  a  pension  of  30  reals  (per  month  ?)  ^  at  some 
future  time.  So  empty,  indeed,  was  Philip's  treasury 
that  Andrada's  demand  for  a  jewel  for  Dr.  Lopez's 
"daughter,"  and  the  payments  for  the  doctor's 
brother-in-law  and  the  spy  who  furnished  Andrada 
with  information,  had  to  be  met  by  taking  some  of 
the  "old  jewels  from  his  Majesty's  casket"^  in  lieu 
of  sending  money.  The  "  old  jewel"  sent  to  I^opez's 
daughter  was  a  fine  diamond  and  ruby  ring,  worth 
;^ioo,  and  it  was  made,  three  years  afterwards,  one 
of  the  principal  pieces  de  conviction  against  the 
doctor.     It    was    said    to    have    been    sent    direct 

^  See  Appendix,  p.  162.  2  ji,ij^ 


THE   LOPEZ   CONSPIRACY  127 

from  Philip  to  Lopez  as  a  pledge  for  the  murder 
of  Elizabeth,  and  was  asserted  to  have  been  ac- 
companied by  an  "  embrace  "  from  the  King 
himself.  Andrada  doubtless  boasted  and  made 
the  most  of  his  mission ;  but  there  is  no  indication 
in  the  Spanish  documents  that  any  such  message 
was  sent,  or  even  that  he  saw  Philip  at  all.  To  any 
one  who  knows,  as  I  do,  the  relations  that  existed 
between  Philip  and  the  rest  of  mankind,  the  mere 
idea  of  an  "embrace"  being  sent  by  the  King  him- 
self through  such  a  messenger  as  Andrada  to  such  a 
person  as  Dr.  Lopez  is  ridiculous.  The  ahrazo,  at 
all  events,  may  be  dismissed  as  a  fable  invented  long 
afterwards.  The  ring  itself  may  have  been  intended 
for  the  Queen,  as  Lopez's  daughters  were  young  girls, 
and  it  is  not  likely  that  a  ring  would  be  sent  to 
either  of  them.  In  any  case,  Lopez  offered  the  ring 
to  the  Queen,  though  it  is  not  clear  whether  he  told 
her  from  whom  it  came,  and  she  graciously  refused 
it.^  Of  Marques  we  hear  no  more,  but  Andrada, 
after  suffering  shipwreck  and  many  adventures, 
arrived  at  Havre  in  the  summer  of  1591,  and  begged 
the  English  Government  to  give  him  a  passport  to 
come  to  England.  Walsingham,  however,  had  died 
in  the  meanwhile,  and  Lord  Burghley  had  received 
from  his  spies  full  information  of  Andrada's  sus- 
picious visit  to  Spain.  Besides,  his  former  betrayal 
of  Don  Antonio  had  marked  him  as  a  dangerous  man, 
and  when,  eventually,  after  detention  as  a  suspicious 
character  by  the  Huguenot  governor  of  Dieppe,  he 

'  The  fact  of  her  having  refused  the  ring  is  presumptive  evidence  of 
Lopez  having  said  it  came  from  Philip.  As  a  rule,  she  received  such 
presents  from  her  courtiers  with  alacrity. 


128  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

was  brought  to  Rye,  it  was  as  a  prisoner  of  the  Eng- 
lish. Lord  Burghley,  who  evidently  knew  nothing 
of  Walsingham's  complicity  in  the  matter,  attached 
much  importance  to  Andrada's  coming.  The  air,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  full  of  the  talk  of  the  Spanish 
plots,  and  here  was  a  man  known  to  be  a  traitor  to 
his  own  King  and  in  the  pay  of  Spain,  coming 
straight  from  Philip  and  was  seeking  entrance  to 
the  English  court.  When  Andrada  was  brought  to 
Rye  (August  2,  1591  O.S.),  he  wrote  to  Burghley 
begging  that  he  may  be  examined  by  the  Lord 
Treasurer  himself  or  by  some  person  of  great 
trust,  as  his  mission  was  important ;  ^  and  to  the 
King,  Don  Antonio,  he  also  sent  a  letter  full  of 
contrition  for  past  errors,  saying  that  he  always 
wished  to  serve  him,  and  had  determined,  in  unison 
with  Marques,  upon  a  course  which  would  complete 
successfully  the  matter  he  had  in  hand.  He  trusts, 
he  says,  that  Antonio's  Minister,  Botello,  may  be 
present  when  he  speaks  to  the  Lord  Treasurer 
on  matters  concerning  the  Queen  and  Philip  11. 
Biirghley's  answer  to  the  spy's  letter  was  to  send 
Mr.  Mills  to  Rye  with  Botello  and  Dr.  Lopez  to 
examine  Andrada  and  his  papers,  "  at  first  civilly, 
and  then  threateningly,  so  that  in  fear  of  his  life  he 
may  be  compelled  to  disclose  the  truth."  On  the 
13th  August,  Andrada  related  to  Mr.  Mills  quite 
truly  everything  which  I  have  already  told  from 
the  documents  themselves.  From  that  time  to  this 
English  historians  have  characterised  this  statement 
of  his  as  a  pack  of  lies,^  and  the  man  himself  as  a 

1  State  Papers,  Domestic. 

^  Mr.  Dimock,  for  instance,  dismissed  it  as  "  of  course,  all  sheer  false- 


THE   LOPEZ   CONSPIRACY  129 

perjured  braggart ;  but  I  have  checked  every  state- 
ment and  cannot  find  one  discrepancy.  He  had  been 
sent  on  this  peace  negotiation,  he  said,  by  Philip, 
whilst  the  latter  prepared  an  expedition  against 
England  or  Ireland :  he  told  the  whole  story  of 
his  former  negotiation  with  Mendoza,  and  assured 
Burghley  that  AA'alsingham  was  a  party  to  the  arrange- 
ment, though  he  does  not  seem  to  have  appealed 
to  Lopez  for  confirmation,  as  he  might  have  done ; 
he  disclosed  the  ofter  of  the  Anglo-Portuguese 
brother-in-law  of  Lopez — though  he  did  not  give  his 
name — to  kill  Don  Antonio,  and  added  that,  on  the 
failure  of  a  certain  Spanish  emissary  from  Philip  to  get 
through  France  to  kill  the  Pretender,  the  Spanish 
Ministers  had  authorised  him,  Andrada,  to  offer  Dr. 
Lopez  himself  a  large  sum  to  commit  the  crime. 

Lord  Burghley  was  indignantly  incredulous  of  the 
whole  story,  and  sent  to  Andrada  a  scornful  paper  of 
queries.^  How  could  Philip  think,  he  asked,  that 
Andrada  could  be  a  fit  envoy  to  England,  seeing  the 
way  in  which  he  had  betrayed  Antonio  before,  and 
how  could  he  think  that  the  Queen  would  receive 
such  a  man?  The  suggestion  (of  Moura)  that 
Andrada  should  be  sent  to  Parma  to  make  terms, 
considering  how  the  Prince  had  tricked  the  Queen 
in  the  former  peace  negotiations,  was  ridiculous. 
What  was  the  use  of  the  disclosure  of  the  names 
of  those  who  had  been  spies  in  England,  or  of  his, 
Andrada's,  proposal  for  England  to  checkmate  Philip 
by  sending  a  force  to  Portugal  in  September  in  the 

hood."     As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  all  contirmed  by  the  letters  of  Mendoza 
and  Moura. 

1  In  State  Papers,  Domestir,  of  tlio  date. 

I 


I30  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

interests  of  Don  Antonio  ?  Andrada  made  good  and 
true  answers  to  all  these  objections.  He  gave  a 
wonderfully  correct  list  of  the  Spanish  spies  still  in 
England,  letters  from  all  of  whom  I  have  seen.  He 
cited  Mendoza's  strong  letter  of  recommendation  of 
him  to  the  King  as  a  reason  for  the  latter's  trust  in 
him,  and  protested  warmly  that  his  ultimate  object  was 
neither  ambition  nor  greed,  but  to  save  Portugal  from 
Spanish  tyranny  and  avenge  the  death  of  his  kins- 
folk who  had  been  sacrificed  to  Philip's  cruelty.  The 
man  was  obviously  a  traitor,  and  Burghley  would  not 
believe  his  protestations,  or  for  some  time  accept  his 
offers  of  service  as  a  spy.  He  was  consigned  to  the 
keeping  of  Dr.  Lopez,  in  whose  house  he  lived  for 
the  next  year  or  so,  and  in  June  1593  we  find  him 
living  at  Calais,  whence  he  had  gone  from  Zeeland, 
and  although,  as  he  says,  poorly  recompensed,  sending 
to  Lord  Burghley  such  news  as  he  could  gather  in 
the  interests  of  England.^  He  was,  however,  dis- 
contented with  his  pay,  and  in  August  wrote  to  the 
Lord  Treasurer  a  letter  very  difierent  in  tone  to  those 
he  usually  sent,  and  evidently  conveying  a  covert 
intimation  that  unless  money  was  sent  to  him  he 
would  take  his  services  elsewhere.  "  As  the  Queen 
has  nothing  for  him  to  do,  and  Don  Antonio  is  not 
in  a  position  to  support  him,  he  is  determined  to  go 
where  his  fortune  shall  guide  him."  Naturally  his 
fortune  guided  him  to  the  Spanish  territory  of 
Brussels,  and,  fortunately  for  himself,  Manuel  An- 
drada trod  English  soil  no  more,  although  upon  the 

*  His  letters  to  Lord  Burghley  are  in  the  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv. 
When  he  had  set  out  for  Flanders,  Burghley  had  given  him  a  sum  equal 
to  ^10,  and  he  does  not  seem  to  have  received  more. 


THE   LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  131 

facts  I  have  here  set  down  was  reared  the  edifice  whose 
fall  crushed  Dr.  Lopez  and  sent  all  England  into  a 
fresh  frenzy  of  hate  and  rage  against  the  Spaniards. 

Lopez  in  the  meanwhile  lived  honoured  and  re- 
spected at  court,  a  man  of  supposed  wealth  and 
influence ;  but  he  was  already  marked  down  for 
ruin.  As  we  have  seen,  he  had  owed  his  advance- 
ment to  Leicester,  Walsingham,  and  Essex,  the 
heads  of  the  party  determined  upon  open  war  with 
Spain,  and  lo  I  the  discovery  of  this  peace  negotiation 
of  Andrada  exhibited  him  as  an  anxious  intermediary 
in  an  arrangement  with  Spain.  Walsingham  was 
dead,  and  could  not  say  that  he  never  meant  the 
negotiations  to  be  sincere ;  they  were  evidently  in- 
tended to  be  so  by  Lopez,  and  this  was  a  desertion 
of  those  to  whom  he  owed  everything.^  Essex  was 
hotheaded  and  vindictive  enough  himself,  but  he 
had  now  two  men  practically  living  upon  his  bounty 
to  whom  peace  with  Spain  was  utter  ruin  and  whose 
hatred  for  Philip  was  a  mania. 

Don  Antonio,  the  evicted  king,  whose  crown 
Philip  had  w^rested  from  his  brows ;  and  Antonio 
Perez,  the  sleepless  foe  who  had  derided,  deceived, 
and  defied  the  sovereign  who  looked  upon  himself 
as  semi-divine;   who  had  raised  revolt  against  and 

1  Bishop  Goodman,  in  his  "Court  of  James  I.,"  gives  us  another 
reason  for  I'^ssex's  anger  with  Lopez.  It  appears  that  Don  Antonio 
and  Antonio  Perez  were  carousing  with  Dr.  Lopez  at  Eton,  where  they 
were  all  lodged  whilst  the  court  was  at  Windsor,  and  in  the  confidence 
bred  of  the  circumstances  the  Doctor  told  his  boon  companions  some 
very  discreditable  secret  respecting  the  Earl's  maladies.  This  breach 
of  professional  etiquette  was  immediately  conveyed  to  Essex  by  the 
two  Antonios,  and  "here  the  Earl  was  so  much  incensed  that  he 
resolved  to  be  revenged  on  him,  and  now  he  began  to  possess  the 
Queen  that  Lopez  was  a  very  villain  and  had  poisoned  others." 


132  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

had  humiliated  the  proudest  king  on  earth  before 
his  own  people.  To  these  men,  both  of  whose  lives 
Philip  sought,  Lopez,  the  reputed  poisoner,  was 
dreaded  and  hateful  in  a  double  sense.  He  had 
been  in  close  communication  with  their  enemy, 
first,  to  bring  about  peace  between  England  and 
Spain,  and  secondly,  to  assassinate  by  his  vile  art 
those  whom  Philip  wished  out  of  the  way. 

What  could  save  Lopez  from  such  a  combination 
as  this,  even  if  he  had  been  innocent,  much  less  if 
any  guilt  could  be  found  beneath  all  this  mysterious 
intriguing  ? 

Either  from  the  spying  of  Essex's  creatures  or 
otherwise,  it  was  conveyed  to  the  Queen  by  the 
Earl  in  the  middle  of  October  1595  that  a  certain 
Portuguese  gentleman  of  rank,  who  had  been 
ruined  by  his  adherence  to  the  cause  of  Don  Antonio, 
and  was  then  living  in  Lopez's  house  in  Holborn, 
being  discontented  with  his  master,  had  determined 
to  compass  the  death  of  Don  Antonio  and  offer  his 
services  to  the  King  of  Spain. ^  The  Queen  at  once 
gave  Essex  an  order  for  the  apprehension  of  this 
man,  Esteban  Ferreira  da  Gama,  and  the  exami- 
nation of  his  papers.^  This  was  the  first  step,  and 
Essex  lost  no  time  in  making  the  arrest,  and 
handing  his  prisoner  over  to  his  own  offended 
sovereign,    Don  Antonio,  who   was   then  lodging  at 

1  Carleton  ("  Thankful  Remembrancer  ")  says  that  "  it  was  conveyed 
to  the  Queen  that  it  was  Ferreira's  intention  to  go  to  the  King  of 
Spain  accompanied  by  Don  Manoel,  the  eldest  son  of  Don  Antonio, 
and  divers  other  Portuguese,  the  purpose  being  for  them  all  to  submit 
to  Philip."  Such  a  submission  was,  as  we  shall  see  by  the  correspond- 
ence, at  all  events  one  of  the  objects  of  the  negotiations. 

"  All  these  men  had  aliases,  some  of  them  several,  but  I  have 
throughout  retained  their  true  names  to  avoid  unnecessary  obscuritj'. 


THP:   LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  1.33 

Orders  were  also  sent  to  llye, 
>Sandwich,  and  Dover  for  all  correspondence  arriving 
at  those  ports  directed  to  Portuguese  to  be  detained 
and  read.  There  was  no  definite  cliargc  against 
Ferreira ;  he  was  merely  suspected  of  an  intention 
to  betray  his  master,  Don  Antonio ;  but  a  fortnight 
after  his  arrest  a  man  named  Gomez  d'Avila, 
described  as  a  ''  mean,  base  fellow,"  living  when 
at  home  hard  by  Lopez's  house  in  Holborn,  was 
taken  at  one  of  the  ports  as  he  came  from  Flanders. 
Upon  him  was  found  a  letter  addressed  to  one 
Ferrandis.  and  signed  Francisco  de  Torres.  The 
terms  in  the  letter  were  commercial,  but  neither  the 
writer  nor  the  person  to  whom  it  was  addressed  was 
known.  It  ran  thus:  "The  bearer  will  inform 
your  Worship  in  what  price  your  pearls  are  held. 
I  will  advise  your  Worship  presently  of  the  utter- 
most penny  that  will  be  given  for  them,  and  crave 
what  order  you  will  have  set  down  for  the  convey- 
ance of  the  money,  and  wherein  you  would  have  it 
employed.  Also  this  bearer  shall  tell  you  in  what 
resolution  we  rested  about  a  little  musk  and  amber, 
the  which  I  determined  to  buy.  But  before  I 
resolve  myself  I  will  be  advised  of  the  price 
thereof.  And  if  it  shall  please  your  Worship  to 
be  my  partner,  I  am  persuaded  we  shall  make  good 
profit."'"  This  was  very  mysterious,  and  no  explana- 
tion could  be  got  from  Gomez  d'Avila.  But  he 
was  put  in  prison  as  a  precautionary  measure  whilst 
further  inquiries  were  being  made,  his  arrival  and 

'  Sir  William  Waad's  account  in  Lord  Calthorpe's  MSS.,  vol.  xxxiii. 
fol.  148. 

-  Yetswirt's  "  True  ileport,"  &c. 


134  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

arrest  being  kept  secret.  About  the  same  time  a 
large  packet  of  letters  was  seized  on  another  Por- 
tuguese at  Dover,  addressed  to  a  certain  Manuel 
Luis  at  Brussels,  and  in  this  packet  was  found  a 
letter  written  by  Ferreira  to  the  Spanish  Secretary- 
Ibarra,  enclosing  another  from  Dr.  Lopez  to  Ferreira, 
written  before  the  arrest  of  the  latter,  giving  him 
news  of  what  was  passing  at  court,  where  Lopez 
was  staying,  Ferreira  being  at  the  time  in  Dr. 
Lopez's  house  in  London.  This  was  confirmation 
of  the  suspicions  against  Ferreira,  but  nothing 
else. 

In  the  meanwhile  Lopez  was  using  all  the  influ- 
ence he  possessed  with  the  Queen  to  secure  the 
release  of  Ferreira.  He  told  her  how  ungrateful 
Don  Antonio  was,  not  only  to  this  good  servant  of 
his,  who  had  sacrificed  everything  for  him,  but  also 
to  her.  He  (Antonio)  was  even  now,  he  assured 
her,  quite  truly,  again  planning  to  go  to  France,  and 
to  appeal  for  help  to  other  princes,  as  he  had  done 
before.  There  was,  Lopez  told  the  Queen,  no 
person  more  likely  to  be  useful  than  Ferreira  "to 
work  a  peace  between  the  two  kingdoms,  in  which 
he  (Lopez)  had  already  laid  a  good  foundation."  ^ 
And  if  her  Majesty  did  not  desire  this  course,  what 
a  good  thing  it  would  be  "  to  cosin  the  King  of 
Spain  by  a  speech  uttered  by  himself!  "^  The  Queen 
sharply  reproved  the  Doctor  for  this.  She  did  not 
relish  such  liberties  being  taken  with  a  crowned 
head,  even  that  of  her  enemy.  It  was  noticed,  too, 
by   courtiers    that   the    Jew    grew   more    and    more 

^  Sir  William  Waad's  account  in  Lord  Calthorpe's  MSS. 
2  Ibid. 


THE    LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  135 

haggard  and  anxious,  for  Essex  had  many  friends 
whose  watchful  eyes  were  upon  him. 

In  the  meantime  the  "base  fellow,"  Gomez  d'Aviln, 
was  being  daily  pressed  in  Essex's  house  for  some  ex- 
planation of  the  mysterious  musk  and  amber  missive 
he  had  brought.  During  the  time  he  was  waiting 
in  the  chamber  for  examination  on  one  occasion,  he 
begged  "an  honest  gentleman  who  happened  to  be 
there,  and  who  spoke  the  Spanish  tongue,  to  tell 
Dr.  Lopez  that  he  was  captured."^  This  was  a  clue 
that  was  not  lost  upon  Essex,  to  whom  it  Avas  con- 
veyed, for  hitherto  there  had  been  no  mention  of 
any  connection  between  Gomez  d'Avila  and  the 
Doctor.  "  The  honest  gentleman "  shortly  after- 
wards met  Lopez  in  the  Base  Court  at  Windsor,  and 
gave  him  the  message  ;  whereupon  it  was  noticed 
that  Lopez  "changed  countenance.'"''  When  Gomez 
d'Avila  saw  the  rack  he  gave  further  extension  to 
the  story.  He  had  been  sent,  he  said,  by  Ferreira 
two  months  previously  to  J^russels  to  one  Manuel 
Luis — whose  real  name  was  Tinoco — and  to  Secre- 
tary Ibarra,  and  had  there  awaited  for  weeks  the 
reply  which  he  had  brought  to  England,  the  letter 
signed  Torres  being  really  written  by  Manuel  Luis 
(Tinoco).  This  at  once  marked  out  Ferreira  as  the 
man  to  whom  this  mysterious  musk  and  amber  letter 
had  really  been  written. 

Shortly  before  this  Ferreira  had  taken  a  most 
unfortunate  step.  He  was,  be  it  recollected,  only 
a  prisoner  of  Don  Antonio  at  Eton,  and  was  under 
the   charge   of  a  young  Portuguese   servant  named 

*  Sir  William  U'aad's  account  in  Lord  Caltliorpe's  MSS. 
2  Ibid. 


136  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

Pedro.  In  order  to  test  this  lad,  Ferreira  asked  him 
to  beg  another  Portuguese,  one  Caldeira,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  household  of  the  French  Ambas- 
sador, also  living  at  Eton  College,  to  come  and 
speak  to  him  at  his  grated  window.  Caldeira  re- 
plied that  he  dared  not ;  but  as  the  reply  proved 
that  Pedro  had  given  the  message,  Ferreira  then 
sent  him  to  Caldeira  with  a  little  note,  praying  him 
to  see  Dr.  Lopez,  and  to  warn  him,  for  God's  sake, 
to  prevent  the  coming  over  of  Gomez  d'Avila  from 
Brussels,  ''  for  if  he  should  be  taken,  the  Doctor  would 
be  undone  without  remedy."  ^  The  message  was  con- 
veyed to  Lopez,  who  had  not  yet  learnt  of  Gomez's 
arrest,  and  he  then  made  his  fatal  mistake.  Caldeira 
had  been  arrested,  and  was  imprisoned  at  Ditton 
Park,  for  the  lad  Pedro  had  divulged  to  Don  Antonio 
Ferreira's  communication  with  him  and  Lopez.  So 
the  latter  had  to  find  another  means  of  sending  a 
reassuring  note  to  Ferreira.  He  wrote  on  a  little 
ticket,  folded  in  a  handkerchief  sent  from  the 
laundry,  that  he  had  already  taken  steps  to  stop 
Gomez  d'Avila  from  coming.  "  He  had,"  he  said, 
"  sent  twice  or  thrice  to  Flanders  with  that  object, 
and  would  spare  no  expense,  if  it  cost  him  ^300."  '^ 
This  little  note  in  the  handkerchief  was,  of  course, 
intercepted  (by  the  confessor  in  the  service  of  Don 
Antonio),  and  when  Ferreira  was  confronted  with 
the  information  contained  in  it,  thinking  that  Lopez 
had  betrayed  him,  he  hastened  to  make  a  declaration 

^  The  little  note  also  contained  these  words  :  "  All  the  diligence 
that  hath  been  used  doth  not  condemn  Dr.  Lopez  as  yet  any  whit,  for 
T  have  bravely  diverted  anybody  from  that."  This  is  noted  by  Waad 
as  being  "very  suspicious"  (Lord  Calthorpe's  MSS.  33). 

2  Ibid. 


THE    LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  137 

incriminating  the  Doctor.  Lopez,  lie  said,  was  a 
principal  party  in  the  negotiations  for  the  submis- 
sion of  Don  Antonio's  son  and  heir  to  the  King  of 
Spain.  The  Doctor,  he  repeated,  had  artfully  secured 
Andrada's  release  from  prison  three  years  before,  in 
order  that  he  might  go  to  Mendoza  and  deal  for  the 
poisoning  of  Don  Antonio ;  and  he  (Lopez)  had 
been  in  the  interests  of  Spain  for  years.  Much  of 
this  was  old  news,  at  least  to  the  Cecils,  who  had 
squeezed  Andrada  at  Rye  two  years  before,  but  it 
gave  Essex  some  further  clues.  Gomez  d'Avila  was 
plied  with  leading  questions  till  he  confessed  that 
when  he  was  in  Brussels  he  learnt  that  a  great  sum 
of  money  was  to  be  sent  to  England,  some  40,000 
or  50,000  crowns,  he  thought.  It  was  to  be  ad- 
dressed to  Ferreira,  and  was  for  the  purpose  of 
buying  the  adhesion  of  Don  Antonio's  eldest  son 
and  his  followers  to  the  Spanish  side.  Ferreira 
being  confronted  with  this  statement,  admitted  its 
truth,  and  confessed  that  the  "musk  and  amber" 
letter  was  really  intended  for  him,  and  referred  to 
this  matter.  He  went  further,  and  proposed  that 
the  plot  should  be  allowed  ostensibly  to  proceed, 
and  the  sum,  when  it  came,  handed  over  to  Don 
Antonio  himself,  to  be  used  against  Spain.  Don 
Antonio  was  in  dire  poverty,  and  the  money  would 
have  been  welcome  enough,  but  Essex  and  Perez 
persuaded  him  that  there  was  some  deep  mystery 
behind  all  this,  which,  when  discovered,  would  do 
more  for  his  cause  and  against  Philip  than  could  be 
done  by  the  treasure. 

The    watch  upon    the    English    ports    was    not 
slackened,  and  in  December  it  met  with  its  reward. 


138  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

The  Portuguese  called  Tinoco,  otherwise  Manuel 
Luis,  came  to  JefFerey,  the  English  Consul  at  Calais, 
asking  for  a  passport  and  safe-conduct  to  go  to 
England.  He  had  been,  he  said,  an  adherent  of 
Don  Antonio ;  he  had  feigned  attachment  to  the 
Spaniards,  and  had  lived  in  Brussels  in  order  to 
obtain  the  release  of  his  wife  and  children  in  Portu- 
gal. He  was,  however,  disgusted  with  his  prince, 
Antonio,  and  owed  gratitude  and  allegiance  alone  to 
the  English  Queen,  who  had  secured  his  liberation 
from  captivity  in  Barbary.  His  object  in  going  to 
England  was  to  reveal  to  the  Queen  and  the  Lord 
Treasurer  secrets  hurtful  to  England  which  he  had 
learnt  in  Brussels.  Jefferey,  at  his  request,  for- 
warded two  memorials  to  this  effect  to  Elizabeth 
and  Burghley,  and  in  due  time  a  "prudently 
drafted "  safe-conduct  was  sent  by  Sir  William 
Waad,  allowing  the  Portuguese  to  enter  England 
without  molestation,  but  reserved  to  the  discretion 
of  the  Government  whether  he  should  be  allow^ed  to 
depart  again.  Tinoco,  taking  his  safe-conduct  for  a 
full  protection,  sailed  for  England,  in  company  w^ith 
one  of  the  Consul's  servants,  who  took  care  not  to 
let  him  out  of  his  sight  until  he  handed  him  to  the 
captain  of  Dover  Castle.  Thence  he  was  taken  to 
court  with  all  secrecy,  expecting  to  be  granted  an 
interview  with  Lord  Burghley.  But,  to  his  dismay, 
he  was  seized,  searched,  and  placed  safe  under  lock 
and  key  (14th  January  1594).  On  him  were  found 
two  letters,  which  were  susceptible  of  sinister  inter- 
pretation, and  bills  of  exchange  for  a  large  sum  of 
money.  One  of  the  letters  was  dated  Brussels, 
A  December    1593,    signed   by  Count,  de   Fuentes, 


THE   LOPEZ   CONSPIRACY  139 

the  Spanish  governor  of  Flanders,  and  addressed 
to  Ferreira,  who  had  been  languishing  in  Don 
Antonio's  prison  for  two  months  previously.  The 
letter  bespeaks  credence  for  the  bearer,  Tinoco, 
and  requests  Ferreira,  if  possible,  to  go  to  Portugal, 
and  thence  to  Spain,  for  the  purpose  of  conferring 
privately  with  Don  Cristobal  de  Moura,  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  following  his  directions  for  the  service 
of  his  Majesty.  "  If  the  shadows  he  speaks  of,"  the 
letter  continues,  "  have  been  the  occasion  of  not 
entreating  the  commission,  and  if  he  would  be 
informed  of  what  has  been  offered,  he  may  do  it; 
the  chief  matter  is  the  service  of  the  king.  He  is 
to  consider  well,  before  he  takes  the  voyage  in  hand, 
whether  he  can  give  any  better  order  therein,  but 
the  whole  is  referred  to  him,  Ferreira.  .  .  .  It  is 
important  that  he  goes  thither  with  the  commission, 
for  the  profit  that  may  be  reaped  thereby.  ...  As 
to  the  young  gentleman,  it  does  not  seem  convenient 
to  move  anything  till  they  see  his  decision."  ^ 
Ibarra's  letter  was  similarly  enigmatical.  It  refers 
Ferreira  to  Tinoco,  who  knows  their  decision  in  the 
affair,  which  concurs  with  his,  Ferreira's,  own. 
"  He  is  persuaded  that  Ferreira  will  do  his  en- 
deavours, and  he  may  be  assured  himself  to  obtain 
all  that  is  to  be  expected  of  one  (i.e.  Philip)  who  can 
do  so  much,  and  is  so  willing  to  recompense  that 
which  is  done  in  his  service,  and  which  is  so  much 
for  the  benefit  of  the  world," 

The  wretched  Tinoco  was  then  submitted  to  the 
searching  examination  of  Essex,  Waad,  and  others. 
What  did  these  strange  letters  mean?  he  was  asked, 

'  State  Papers,  Domestic,  ccxlvL 


I40  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

since  Count  Fuentes  said  that  he,  Tinoco,  knew 
all  about  it.  Tinoco  told  a  tale  to  explain  why 
he  had  come  to  England.  The  new  Viceroy  of 
Flanders,  the  Archduke  Ernest,  was  going  to  invade 
England,  and  an  attack  was  to  be  made  upon  the 
Isle  of  Wight :  a  Gallego  priest  and  a  Jesuit  were 
to  come  across  from  Dieppe  to  kill  the  Queen  with 
a  "  device  of  fire,"  and  much  more  vague  stuff  of  the 
same  sort,  was  all  that  at  first  could  be  got  from 
him — evidently  the  loose  talk  of  the  English  re- 
fugees in  Brussels.^  When  he  was  pressed  closely 
as  to  his  object  in  going  to  Brussels  at  all  from 
England,  he  prevaricated,  and  was  tripped  up  again 
and  again.  But  at  last  leading  questions  drew 
from  him  the  avowal  that  he  had  been  sent  over 
to  England  to  see  Ferreira,  and  with  him  secretly 
endeavour  to  win  Dr.  Lopez  to  do  "a  service"  to 
King  Philip,  presumably  against  Don  Antonio,  as 
Tinoco  confessed  that  he  had  deserted  the  Pre- 
tender and  despaired  of  his  cause.  But  this  avowal 
did  not  explain  Fuentes  and  Ibarra's  letters  to 
Ferreira,  and  it  was  evident  that  something  more 
was  behind.  Tinoco  himself  grew  alarmed  at  the 
snare  into  which  he  had  run,  and  wrote  the  next 
day  to  Cecil  protesting  his  innocence  and  praying 
to  be  sent  back  to  Flanders.  He  was,  he  says, 
"  confused  and  encumbered  by  the  cunning  questions 
of  the  Earl  of  Essex,"  and  had  small  knowledge  of 
the  language,  French,  in  which  he  was  examined. 
He  came  voluntarily  in  all  sincerity  to  do  the  Queen 
a  service,  but  has  not  been  treated  as   he  expected. 

'  State  Papor.-^,  Domestic,  ccxlvi. 


THE   LOPEZ   CONSPIRACY  141 

He  gives  his  word  as  a  gentleman  to  serve  her 
Majesty  truly,  and  to  send  all  information  possible 
if  he  is  allowed  to  go  back  to  Brussels.  His  letters 
from  Fuentes  and  Ibarra  had,  he  asserted,  no 
reference  to  Don  Antonio  and  his  affairs ;  and  he 
advises  Cecil  to  allow  Ferreira  himself  to  go  to 
Spain,  as  desired  in  the  letters,  so  that  he  may  learn 
the  designs  of  Philip  against  England.  This  was 
written  on  the  i6th  January,  and  its  immediate 
effect  was  to  render  Tinoco's  prison  the  closer.  For 
the  "cunning  questions"  of  the  Earl  of  Essex  had 
drawn  from  him  the  avowal  that  the  main  object 
of  his  voyage  and  of  Ferreira's  curious  correspond- 
ence was  to  prevail  upon  Dr.  Lopez  to  do  "a  service  " 
to  the  King  of  Spain  that  had  no  relation  with 
Don  Antonio.  Gomez  d'Avila  had  confessed  that 
a  large  sum  of  money  was  to  be  sent  to  England 
for  something  ;  that  he  had  waited  two  months  in 
Brussels  for  a  definite  reply  to  some  proposal  sent 
by  Ferreira — an  inmate  of  Lopez's  house — who  had 
in  his  little  note  to  the  Doctor  besought  him  to 
prevent  a  reply  coming  from  Brussels  or  he,  Lopez, 
would  be  utterly  ruined,  and  had  assured  the  Doctor 
that  he,  Ferreira,  had  not  incriminated  him,  Lopez. 
The  Doctor,  moreover,  in  his  little  "ticket"  in  the 
handkerchief  addressed  in  reply  to  Ferreira,  had 
said  that  he  would  spend  ^^300  rather  than  the 
answer  from  Brussels  came  over.  This  seemed  to 
prove  conclusively  that  the  Doctor  was  really  the 
principal  in  the  business,  whatever  it  was,  and 
Tinoco  said  it  did  not  concern  Don  Antonio.  On 
the  ist  January  1594  the  blow  of  Essex  fell  upon 
his    enemy.      Dr.    Lopez,    the    Queen's    principal 


142  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

physician,  a  court    favourite    and   a    friend   of   the 
great    Lord    Treasurer,    found   himself    a   prisoner. 
Nothing   whatever   of    an    incriminating    character 
was  found   in  his  house ;    and  when  he  was  taken 
before  the  Lord  Treasurer,  his  son,  Sir  Robert  Cecil, 
and  the  Earl  of  Essex,  at  Burghley  House  in  the 
Strand  for  examination,  his  answers  seemed  so  satis- 
factory that  the  Cecils,  at  all  events,  were  convinced 
that  he  had  no  part  in  any  sinister  designs.    Burghley 
knew,  of  course,  that  he  was  in  communication  with 
Spanish  agents,  for  he  had  become  one  of  his  own 
principal  spy-masters.     The  Cecils  also  knew  from 
their  examination   of  Andrada  all  about  the  peace 
negotiations    of   two    years    before,  and  were   per- 
suaded that  the  new  matter  was  a  prolongation  of 
the   same  intrigue,  for  the  purpose   of  "cosining" 
the  King  of  Spain   and  gaining  knowledge  of  his 
intention.     So,  as   soon  as   Sir  Robert  Cecil  could 
get  away  from  the  examination  of  Lopez,  he  rode 
in  haste  to  the  Queen  at  Hampton  Court,  and  told 
her   how   Essex    had   arrested    her    body-physician, 
and  that  on  examination  the  Doctor  had  proved  his 
innocence  of  offence.     Elizabeth  was  in  a  fury.     She 
had  been  squabbling  with  Essex  ever  since  Christ- 
mas, and  this   was  another  grievance  against  him. 
When   he    appeared    at    court    she    railed    at   him 
vigorously.      How   dared   he,   "  a   rash    temerarious 
youth,"   to   bring  these   grave    accusations  of  high 
treason,  out  of  sheer  malice,  against  a  faithful  ser- 
vant of  hers  ?     She  knew  that  Lopez  was  innocent, 
and  it  touched  her  honour  now  to  see  that  justice 
was  done.      Cecil,   the  prim,  sly,  little  hunchback, 
whom     he    hated,     stood    by    whilst    the    haughty 


THE   LOPEZ   CONSPIRACY  143 

favourite  was  thus  rebuked  ;  and  when  Essex  finng 
out  of  the  chamber,  with  flaming  face  and  violent 
gesture,  to  sulk  tor  the  next  two  days,  it  touched 
his  honour  thenceforward  to  bring  the  Jew  Lopez 
to  the  gallows,  guilty  or  innocent. 

Not  a  word  up  to  this  point  had  been  said  about 
poisoning  the  Queen,  but  in  the  excited  state  of 
public  feeling  against  Spain,  already  described,  a 
mere  hint  of  such  a  plan  attributed  to  Lopez  was 
sufficient  to  turn  every  one  against  him.  The  hint 
was  not  long  coming,  and  it  came  from  the  quarter 
where  it  might  have  been  expected.  Standeu,  one 
of  Essex's  Catholic  spies,  went  to  Hampton  Court  on 
the  24th  January,  and  wrote  to  Bacon  on  the  30th 
an  account  of  Lopez's  first  examination  in  London 
on  the  2 1  St,  and  the  Queen's  rage  with  Essex.  He 
then  says  that  "  Lopez  had  been  detected  of  a  design 
to  poison  the  Queen,"  ^  The  following  day  Faunt, 
another  of  Essex's  hangers-on,  wrote  from  London 
to  Bacon,  saying  that  "  it  was  most  true  that  Dr. 
Lopez  was  most  deeply  touched  in  the  particular 
working  of  the  Queen's  destruction,  and  was  dis- 
covered to  have  been  the  King  of  Spain's  pensioner 
for  seven  years  past.  .  .  .  The  Queen  had  forbidden 
all  access  to  her,  except  only  of  four  persons,  besides 
councillors  and  ladies." "  The  day  before  this  was 
written  Lopez  was  taken  to  the  Tower,  and  Essex 
himself  wrote  to  his  spy-master,  Antony  Bacon  :  "  In 
haste  this  morning. — I  have  discovered  a  most  dan- 
gerous and  desperate  treason.  The  point  of  conspiracy 
was  her  Majesty's  death.  The  executioner  should 
have  been  Dr.  Lopez;  the  manner  poison.     This  1 

'  Bird).  -  Jbid. 


144  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

have  so  followed  as  1  will  make  it  appear  as  clear  as 
noonday."  ^ 

In   the  meanwhile,   the   separate  examination   of 
all  the  prisoners  continued.     Tinoco  was  told  that 
Ferreira,  on    a  threat   of  torture,  had  charged  him 
with  high  treason  ;  and  Tinoco,  in  a  panic,  we  know 
not  how  pressed  or  led,  but  determined  to  save  his 
own  neck  by  the  earliest  and   fullest  declarations, 
opened  the  flood-gates  of  revelation,  and  surpassed 
himself  in  the  satisfaction  he  gave  to  Essex.    On  the 
nth  February,  Faunt  wrote  to  Bacon  some  news  he 
had  heard  secretly  from   Sir  W.  Waad   about  the 
Lopez  case,  which  he   now  mixed  up  vaguely  with 
the  Collen,  Annias,   and  Polwhele   conspiracies,  re- 
ferred to  in  the  preceding  chapter.     Then  he  goes 
on  to  say :  "  The  inquiry  is  still  very  strict,  and  Dr. 
Lopez  used   great  arts  to  elude  it,  and  swore  and 
forswore  himself  for   that   purpose."     However,   he 
has   already   confessed   that  many  letters  had  been 
sent  to  him  from  the  King  of  Spain's  Ministers  with 
large  offers,  but  that  he  had  always  forborne  to  make 
answer,   and    entered    not   into  promise.      Yet   one 
letter  was  found,  in  which  he  offered  all  his  service 
to  the  King,  saying  that  he  only  stayed  in  England 
to   do    him  some    acceptable   service,  which,   being 
done,  he  would  think  himself  happy  to  retire  and  die 
in  his  Majesty's  dominions."    Lopez,  he  said,  asserted 

1  Birch,  vol.  i.  p.  152.  It  is  not  plain  whence  came  the  original  hint 
about  Lopez  killing  the  Queen,  but  it  seems  probable  that  it  arose  out 
of  an  important  exclamation  which  Ferreira  afterwards  confessed  he 
had  made  to  his  guard,  the  young  Portuguese  called  Pedro,  to  the  effect 
that  he  had  no  doubt  that  Lopez  would  poison  either  the  Queen  or  Don 
Antonio  if  he  was  paid  sufficiently  for  it. 

'  Sir  William  Waad,  in  his  account  in  the  Calthorpe  MSS.,  speaks  of 
"  Lopez's  customary  awful  oaths." 


THE   LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  145 

tliat  all  this  was  in  pursuance  of  a  plan  be  had 
arranged  with  Walsingham  to  gain  over  as  a  spy 
one  of  the  assistants  of  Idiaquez,  the  Spanish  Secre- 
tary of  State.  "  But  that  shift,"  continued  Faunt, 
"  will  not  serve.  This  will  prove  the  most  resolute 
attempt,  and  most  deeply  advised,  of  the  court  of 
Spain,  if  Lopez  be  well  sifted,  who  is  a  most  vile 
person,  and  void  of  all  shame  and  common  humanity. 
Thus  much  in  great  secret.  "  ^  All  this,  be  it  recol- 
lected, was  from  the  various  creatures  of  Essex. 
The  letter  to  which  he  refers  from  Lopez,  offering 
his  services  to  Spain,  is  not  now  forthcoming,  and 
Mr.  Faunt's  hearsay  assertion  of  its  existence  is  not 
conclusive ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  such  letters 
had  been  written  by  Ferreira  at  Lopez's  dictation." 
This,  however,  is  no  proof  that  such  offers  as  they 
contained  related  to  the  murder  of  the  Queen.  The 
first  presumption,  indeed,  is  to  the  contrary,  as  the 
unquestionable  negotiations  laid  bare  in  the  papers 

1  Birch. 

-  Ferreira  confessed  on  the  i8th  February  that  ten  months  pre- 
viously he  had  received  Ironi  Lopez  two  letters  to  be  delivered  to  Don 
Christobal  de  ^loura.  These  letters  were  written  by  Ferreira  himself, 
at  the  dictation  of  Lopez,  and  professed  the  latter's  willingness  to  do  all 
that  the  King  of  Spain  desired,  though,  said  Ferreira,  tlie  wording  was 
purposely  obscure.  In  answer,  evidently,  to  a  leading  question,  Ferreira 
confessed  at  the  same  time  that,  in  his  opinion,  "  the  Doctor  woiild  have 
poisoned  the  Queen  if  required."  This  is  an  instance  of  the  way  in 
which  the  evidence  was  built  up.  From  these  extorted  admissions  to 
the  contident  statement  that  Lopez  liad  written  to  the  Spaniards  offer- 
ing to  kill  the  Queen  was  but  a  step.  In  the  same  confession  Ferreira 
said  tliat  Andrada  had  told  him,  shortly  before  he  left  England  in  1593, 
that  if  the  King  of  Spain  wished,  Dr.  Lopez  would  poison  either  the 
Queen  or  Don  Antonio.  This  speech  Ferreira  said  he  had  afterwards 
repeated  to  Lopez  himself,  who  replied,  '"'As  for  the  King  (Don 
Antonio),  he  shall  die  with  the  first  sickness  that  shall  happen  to  him, 
but  for  the  Queen  we  have  no  answer  as  yet  from  the  other  side."  See 
Ferreira's  confession,  State  Papers,  Domestic,  and  in  Yetswirt's  book. 

K 


146  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

from  the  Paris  archives  I  have  quoted  in  an  appendix 
prove  that  the  communications  between  Lopez  and 
the  Spaniards  disclosed  therein  refer  to  the  simulated 
peace  overtures,  and  also,  probably,  to  the  removal  of 
Don  Antonio  by  poison. 

Essex,  Waad,  and  Eobert  Cecil  (for  the  latter 
was  as  anxious  now  as  the  Earl  himself  to  sift  the 
matter ;  it  was  the  Cecil  method  never  to  champion 
an  unpopular  cause)  followed  up  ceaselessly  the 
clues  thus  gained,  with  the  object  of  '*  making  it 
appear  clear  as  noonday  "  against  Lopez.  Tinoco's 
admissions  were  used  as  levers  for  still  further 
opening  the  lips  of  Ferreira ;  and  the  two  prisoners 
were  so  cleverly  handled  with  fears  of  torture,  and 
by  a  desire  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  their  exa- 
miners, that  the  story  soon  looked  circumstantial 
enough  to  ensure  the  hanging  of  Lopez.  When  the 
evidence,  such  as  it  was,  was  pieced  together,  it 
appeared  from  the  declarations  that  the  reference 
to  "  peace  "  and  "  service  "  really  meant  the  murder 
of  the  Queen  by  Lopez.^  The  ruby  ring  and  the 
mythical  "embrace"  brought  by  Andrada  to  the 
Doctor  were  said  to  be  an  encouragement  direct 
from  Philip  to  the  commission  of  the  crime.  The 
King,  however,  distrusting  such  a  man  as  An- 
drada   in    so    delicate    a   mission,    had    instructed 

1  Tinoco  confessed  on  26th  February  :  "  The  letters  I  wrote  to  Fer- 
reira by  Gomez  d'Avila  concerning  the  point  which  speaketh  of 
pearls,  and  the  price  of  them,  was  to  give  him  to  understand  that  the 
news  which  he  had  sent  that  Dr.  Lopez  would  kill  the  Queen  were 
very  greatly  accepted,  and  much  esteemed  of  Count  de  Fuentes  and 
Secretary  Ibarra.  And  touching  the  point  concerning  musk  and 
amber,  the  Count  de  Fuentes  did  tell  me  that  he  did  look  for  a  reso- 
lution of  the  King  of  great  importance  ;  and  when  it  came  there  should 
be  a  great  matter  "  (Yetswirt). 


THE    LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  147 

Count  l'\ientes  to  employ  Ferreira  instead  of  him. 
Andrada  himself,  it  was  asserted,  had  written  to 
Count  Fuentes  three  letters,  urging  that  the  money 
for  the  service  {i.e.  the  murder  of  the  Queen)  should 
he  paid  at  once.  It  was  not  in  accordance  with  the 
Spanish  principle  to  pay  beforehand — if  at  all — 
and,  according  to  the  confessions,  the  matter  hung 
fire  until  Ferreira  was  sent  by  Lopez  to  Flanders 
with  the  two  letters  already  referred  to  again  offer- 
ing his  service  in  obscure  terms.  Ferreira  stated 
that  Fuentes  and  Ibarra  instructed  him  to  obtain  a 
more  binding  pledge  from  the  Doctor,  which,  how- 
ever, he  was  unable  to  do.  Tinoco  was  then  sent 
by  Ferreira  from  London  to  Brussels  and  Antwerp, 
where  Andrada  was  then  staying.  At  Fuentes' 
instance  Tinoco  persuaded  Andrada  to  stand  aside, 
whilst  Ferreira  acted  as  principal  intermediary ; ' 
and  Tinoco  then  went  back  to  England  for  one  day 
only — according  to  his  own  statement — carrying 
grand  promises  and  another  embrace  from  Fuentes 

•  Tinoco  confessed  on  the  22nd  February  that  Fuentes  had  sum- 
moned him  to  his  house  at  Brussels  and  asked  his  opinion  about 
Andrada.  Tinoco's  reply  appears  to  have  been  unfavourable,  and 
Fuentes's  secretary  had  then  exhibited  to  Tinoco  three  letters,  which 
he  said  had  been  written  by  Andrada  to  him  from  Calais.  The  first 
letter  related  that  Ur.  Lopez  had  sent  him  (Andrada)  to  say  that  he 
'■  was  determined  to  do  such  a  piece  of  service  to  the  king  of  Castile 
us  thereby  he  (Philip)  might  with  safety  satisfy  himself  of  the  English 
nation.  But  so  as  the  King  should  recompense  his  services  with  honour 
and  favour,  according  to  the  quality  thereof;  for  he  was  old,  and  in 
many  ways  indebted,  and  would  now  lind  rest  for  his  old  age.  And 
declaring  the  quality  uf  tlie  service  he  (Andrada?)  told  him  (Fuentes) 
that  Dr.  Lopez  bouml  himself  to  despatch  the  Queen  by  poison  ; 
whereof  it  behoved  him  (Fuentes)  to  advertise  the  king  of  Spain 
thereof  with  all  speed  ;  and  he  (Andrada)  would  attend  at  Calais 
until  an^wer  came  from  Madrid."  According  to  Tinoco,  it  was  at  this 
point  that  Philip  declined  to  proceed  in  such  a  matter  by  means  of  a 
person  so  discredited  on  both  sides  as  Andrada. 


148  TREASON    AND   PLOT 

to  Lopez,  and  a  letter  from  Moura  in  Spain  to 
Ferreira,  instructing  him  that  the  "  treaty  of  peace," 
which  Tinoco  said  meant  the  murder  of  the  Queen, 
should  be  renewed.  Tinoco  then  returned  to 
Flanders  and  Ferreira  himself  kept  close  to  Lopez, 
urging  him  to  do  the  service  required  of  him,  and 
Ferreira  confessed  that  the  Doctor  demanded  50,000 
crowns  down  ;  and  according  to  the  prosecution,  it 
was  the  delay  necessary  for  the  return  of  Philip's 
answer  to  this  demand  that  was  referred  to  in  the 
reply  promised  to  be  sent  to  Ferreira  by  Tinoco 
about  the  price  of  "  pearls."  Tinoco's  own  journey  to 
England  after  Ferreira's  arrest  was  said  to  have  been 
urged  by  Fuentes  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the 
conspirators  by  the  letters  from  Fuentes  and  Ibarra, 
and  of  exciting  Lopez's  cupidity  by  showing  him 
bills  of  exchange  for  a  large  amount,  which  might 
be  his  after  the  commission  of  the  crime.^ 

It  will  be  seen  by  these  confessions  that  Tinoco's  ^ 
avowals  were  all  directed  to  prove  his  own  innocence 
at  the  expense  of  Lopez  and  Ferreira,  whilst  the 
latter  sought  to  shift  the  principal  burden  upon 
Lopez.  Both  the  prisoners,  however,  admitted  the 
main  point,  namely,  that  the  conspiracy  really  aimed 

1  Be  it  recollected  that  thr(;e  years  before  the  Spanish  Ministers  had 
themselve.s  offered  30,000  for  the  killing  of  Don  Antonio  by  Lopez. 

-  Tinoco  confessed  on  22nd  Februarj"  that  Fuentes  and  Ibarra  had 
summoned  him  to  a  secret  chamber,  and  taking  his  hands  in  theirs, 
had  made  him  pledge  himself  to  inviolable  secrecy.  "After  I  had 
given  them  my  word  and  faith  .  .  .  they  told  me  that  Ferreira  had 
written  to  them  that  Lopez  had  offered  and  bound  himself  to  kill  the 
Queen  of  England  by  poison,  on  condition  that  the  King  of  Spain 
should  recompense  his  services  according  to  their  quality.  This  passed 
at  the  house  of  Count  de  Fuentes  in  Brussels,  and  as  far  as  I  remember 
on  the  9th  December  last." 


THE   LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  149 

at  the  Queen's  death ;  and  the  final  triumph  for 
Essex  was  to  wring  some  sort  of  admission  from 
Ijopez  himself.  All  the  avowals  of  Tinoco  and 
Ferreira  were  dangled  before  him  daily  in  the 
Tower.  First  he  indignantly  denied  his  guilt ; 
then,  in  terror  or  distress,  he  admitted  that  he  had 
made  a  promise  to  the  Spaniards  to  poison  the 
Queen,  but  that  his  object  was  simply  to  cheat 
I'hilip  out  of  a  large  sum  of  money  and  then  to 
expose  him.  Although  it  is  often  asserted  that 
this  confession  was  made  on  the  rack,  this  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  the  case.  But  however 
obtained,  it  sufficed ;  and  on  the  28th  February 
1594  Lopez  was  tried  at  Guildhall  by  special  com- 
mission, including  Essex  and  Cecil.  Tinoco  and 
Ferreira  told  their  story  again,  with  all  the  damning 
details.  In  accordance  with  the  usual  procedure 
in  such  cases,  the  accused  was  browbeaten  and 
abused  unmercifully  by  his  judges  and  prosecutors. 
The  various  letters  I  have  mentioned  were  made 
the  most  of,  though  of  themselves  without  the  de- 
clarations they  would  have  proved  nothing  against 
Lopez,^  except  perhaps  the  little  notes  that  had 
passed  between  him  and  Ferreira  when  the  latter 
was  first  arrested.  The  Doctor  solemnly  asserted 
that  he  was  innocent ;  and  on  being  confronted 
with  his  own  partial  confession,  he  said  tliat  it  had 
been  made  out  of  fear  of  the  rack.  This  was 
denied ;    and   he    then   averred   that   his   only  wish 

•  It  must  be  recollected  that  the  letters  purporting  to  be  written  by 
Aiidrada  in  Calais  to  Count  Fuentes  connecting  Lopez  directly  witli 
the  plot  to  kill  tlie  Queen  were  only  recited  on  the  recollection  of 
Tinoco,  who  asserted  that  they  had  been  shown  to  him  in  Brussels  by 
the  socretarv  of  Count  Fuentes. 


I50  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

was    to    "  cosen "    King    Philip.      Confronted    with 
Tinoco  and  Ferreira,  he  could  only  protest  passion- 
ately that  their  evidence  was  all  false,  and  he  was  in 
turn   told   by  them  that  he  lied.     Lopez,  guilty  or 
innocent,    was    doomed    long   before,    and    on    his 
own  statement  he    was    condemned   to   death   as  a 
traitor.     Cecil  was  as  eager  as  Essex  now  to  wash 
his  hands  of  sympathy  with  the  fallen  wretch,  and 
directly  he  left  Guildhall  he  wrote  to  a  friend  that 
"ye  vile  Jew  sayd  that  he  did  confess  indead  to  it 
that  he  had  talk  of  it,  but  now  he  might  tell  further 
he  did  belie  himself;  and  did  it  only  to  save  himself 
from  racking,  which,  ye  Lord  knoweth  on  my  sowles 
wytness,  to  be   most  untrue :   and   so   he   was   told 
home :  and  the  most  substantial  jury  I  have  scene 
have  found  him  guilty  in  the  highest  degree  of  all 
treasons ;  and  judgment  passed  against  him  with  ye 
applause  of  all   ye   world."  ^     Ferreira    and   Tinoco 
were  put  upon   their  trial    a   fortnight    afterwards, 
and,   notwithstanding  their  prayers   for  mercy  and 
their  engaging  frankness,  there  was  no  clemency  for 
them.     For  some  reason  or  other  the  Queen  hesi- 
tated   to    sign    the    death-warrant.      Lopez    begged 
humbly   for    himself,    his    wife    and    children,    but 
without   avail   so    far   as   he    was    concerned.      All 
England   was   in   a  ferment   of  indignation,   owing 
to    the    revelations   made   by  Ferreira  and  Tinoco, 
and  the  heat  introduced  into  the  accusations  against 
Philip  and  his  Ministers  by  the  Essex  party  ;  and 
at    length,    early    in    June     1594,    the    three    poor 
wretches,  bound  to  hurdles,  were  dragged  up  Holborn 
to  Tyburn,  and  the  penalty  for  treason  was  paid  by 

*  State  Papers,  Domestic,  cclvii. 


THE    LOPEZ    CONSPIRACY  151 

all  of  them,  with  a  sickening  barbarity  exceeding 
even  the  usual  awful  rites. ^  Lopez  in  vain  tried  to 
speak  to  the  vast  scoffing  crowd  that  faced  him. 
Almost  speechless  with  agitation,  he  solemnly  pro- 
tested his  innocence  :  mocking  laughter  and  ribald 
interruption  alone  greeted  his  despairing  cry.  He 
was  unfortunately  inspired  to  say  that  he  loved  his 
mistress  better  than  Jesus  Christ;  and  this,  coming 
from  a  Jew,  so  incensed  the  multitude  that  the 
tumult  silenced  all  else,  and  Ruy  Lopez  went  to 
his  death,  and  left  his  final  secret  to  be  guessed  by 
others. 

The  reader  has  had  placed  before  him  quite  im- 
partially all  the  evidence  known  to  be  in  existence 
upon  which  Lopez  was  condemned.  He  can  judge 
for  himself  as  to  the  righteousness  of  the  sentence. 
That  Lopez  was  willing  to  poison  his  master,  Don 
Antonio,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt ;  that  he  was  a 
false  and  lying  trickster  is  proved  beyond  possibility 
of  cavil  and  by  his  own  statement ;  but  he  was  a 
clever,  self-seeking  man,  and  he  must  have  known 
that  to  poison  the  Queen,  whose  chief  physician  he 
was,  to  gain  the  reward  of  a  King  who  was  notoriously 
a  bad  paymaster  and  an  ungrateful  patron,  would 
have  been  foolish   from  a  purely  business  point  of 

'  It  is  related,  though  no  authority  is  quoted,  in  Dr.  Lee's  "The 
Church  under  Queen  Elizabeth,"  that  one  of  the  three,  probably  Tinoco, 
as  he  was  the  youngest,  recovered  his  feet  after  tlie  hanging,  and, 
mad  with  pain  and  desperation,  attacked  the  executioner.  The  crowd 
applauding  his  pluck,  liroke  through  the  guard  and  made  a  ring  to 
witnei^s  the  fight.  Two  burly  ruffians  came  to  the  executioner's  help, 
but  one  was  immediately  felled  by  a  blow  from  the  prisoner,  wlio  kept 
the  other  two  at  bay  for  some  time.  The  half -strangled  creature  was 
at  length  stunned  with  a  lilow  on  the  head,  and  the  discinljowelling 
then  proceeded. 


152  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

view.  Lopez  had  made  his  home  in  England  for  forty 
years  and  all  his  interests  were  here.  For  a  large 
reward  he  might  have  undertaken  to  poison  13on 
Antonio,  for  the  Pretender  was  discredited  every- 
where, and  his  death  would  have  injured  no  one  but 
himself,  but  it  was  far  otherwise  in  the  case  of  the 
death  of  Elizabeth  under  the  hands  of  her  physician. 
That  would  have  ruined  Lopez  socially  and  pro- 
fessionally; have  made  life  for  him  impossible  in 
England  or  any  Protestant  country,  and  have  left 
him  to  the  tender  mercies  of  Philip  and  the  Inquisi- 
tion unless  he  had  sought  oblivious  refuge  in  Turkey, 
which,  for  a  man  of  his  antecedents,  would  have 
been  as  bad  as  death. 

The  proofs  against  him  are  absolutely  confined 
to  the  declarations  of  his  two  accomplices,  and 
especially  Tinoco,  who  confessed  himself  a  perjurer, 
and  both  of  them  would  probably  have  sworn  to 
anything  desired  of  them  to  save  their  necks.  The 
evidence  of  Philip's  complicity  is  for  the  most  part 
demonstrably  false,  whilst  that  against  Fuentes  and 
Ibarra — so  far  as  the  plot  to  murder  Elizabeth  is 
concerned — rests  likewise  on  extremely  unsubstantial 
foundations.  The  whole  of  the  original  documents 
produced  in  the  case  were  compatible  with  the 
objects  of  the  conspiracy  being:  (i)  the  simulation 
of  peace  negotiations  to  obtain  information  ;  (2)  the 
winning  over  of  Don  Antonio's  eldest  son  and  his 
adherents;  (3)  the  "cosening"  of  King  Philip,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  conspirators  ;  and  (4)  the  murder 
of  Don  Antonio  or  of  Antonio  Perez.  It  is  unwise 
to  pronounce  a  dogmatic  opinion  on  so  very  doubtful 
a  case,  but  on  a  review  of  the  quality  of  the  whole 


YORKE    AND    WILLIAMS  153 

evidence,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  one  or  more 
of  these  objects  were  those  really  aimed  at.  It  is 
not  at  all  necessary  to  believe  that  Essex  purposely 
and  knowingly  sacrificed  an  innocent  man,  but  the 
Earl's  evident  desire  to  incriminate  Lopez  would 
naturally  influence  the  statements  of  the  two 
prisoners,  anxious  for  their  own  pardon,  upon  whose 
evidence  mainly  Lopez  died. 

About  a  fortnight  after  the  execution  of  Lopez,  and 
whilst  broadsides  magnifying  the  danger  to  the  realm 
were  still  in  the  hands  of  all  men,  Essex  received  a 
letter,  written  from  Calais,  by  a  young  man  of  good 
family  named  Edmund  Yorke.  The  writer  expressed 
deep  contrition  that  he  had  broken  the  law  by  going 
abroad  without  licence,  and  begged  the  Earl  to  sue 
for  his  pardon,  and  permission  to  return  to  his 
allegiance  in  England.  He  had,  he  said,  been 
acknowledged  at  Brussels  as  heir  to  his  uncle's 
property,^  but  as  the  authorities  there  would  not 
put  him  in  possession  of  the  inheritance  until  he 
swore  allegiance  to  Philip,  he  preferred  to  renounce 
it,  and  to  live  as  a  "poor  good  subject  in  England." 
He  had  with  him,  he  said,  two  English  gentlemen  of 
like  mind  to  himself,  one  of  whom  had  served  under 
Essex  in  France,  and  the  other  had  been  for  three 
years  in  Sir  William  Stanley's  regiment.  They  all 
begged  for  the  Queen's  pardon,  and  offered,  if  they 
were  allowed  to  come  over,  to  do  good  service  to 
their  natural  sovereign.  The  vagaries  of  this  young 
man  in  France  and  Flanders  were  not  unknown  to 

'  His  uncle  was  Sir  Rowland  Yorke,  who,  when  in  command  of  the 
English  contingent  at  Zutphen,  went  over  with  his  regiment  to  the 
euemy.     He  had  since  died,  leaving  considerable  property  in  Flanders. 


154  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

Essex.  He  had  been  consorting  with  Catholics  in 
France,  and  latterly  had  been  the  constant  companion 
of  the  most  swaggering  set  of  the  exiles  in  Flanders. 
He  had  been  received  into  the  Church  by  Father 
Holt,  and  his  relationship  to  the  traitor  Rowland 
Yorke  was  ominous.  So,  although  Essex  sent  the 
permission  for  Edmund  Yorke  and  his  two  com- 
panions, Richard  Williams  and  Henry  Young,  to 
come  to  England,  they  were  closely  shadowed  from 
the  hour  they  first  landed.  Young  was  a  rogue, 
pure  and  simple,  and  hastened,  in  the  usual  way, 
when  he  found  that  suspicion  was  entertained,  to  be 
the  first  to  betray  his  companions.  According  to  his 
first  story,^  told  on  the  30th  July  1594,  the  object  of 
Yorke's  coming  was  to  raise  rebellion  in  North 
Wales  by  the  aid  of  Williams.  They  were  to  go  in 
the  winter  to  Conway,  and,  with  the  aid  of  local 
friends,  to  seize  the  castle  :  money  was  to  be  pro- 
vided by  Williams'  uncle,  Ralph  Sheldon,  and  a 
Mr.  Pew,  a  rich  Anglesea  squire  and  trader,  was 
to  sell  his  estate  and  spend  the  money  in  maintain- 
ing the  revolt,  whilst  a  Captain  Middleton  of  the 
Queen's  Navy  was  to  co-operate  with  his  ship. 
According  to  Young,  the  assertion  of  Yorke  about 
his  uncle's  property  was  false,  and  had  been  invented 
by  Father  Holt  to  throw  the  English  Government  off 
its  guard.  Yorke  had  already  received  ^250  of  the 
inheritance,  and  the  rest  was  being  held  for  his 
benefit.  The  plan  of  invasion,  said  Young,  had 
been  devised  by  Sir  W.  Stanley,  and  in  the  various 
conferences  about  it  he  had  identified  Drs.  Gifford, 
Holt,  and  Worthington.     The  trio  of  suspects  had 

*  State  Papers,  Domestic,  ccxlix. 


YORKE   AND    WILLIAMS  155 

feigned  to  be  discontented  with  the  leaders  in 
Brussels,  and  had  ostentatiously  sold  their  cloaks  in 
pretended  poverty,  and  had  given  out  that  they 
intended  to  return  to  their  allegiance  in  England. 

Coming  after  so  many  similar  declarations,  to 
which  I  have  referred  in  the  last  chapter,  this 
seemed  important,  and  Yorke  and  Williams  were  at 
once  cast  into  the  Tower.  Essex  himself  took  the 
matter  in  hand,  and  began  by  interrogating  Yorke, 
whose  statement  about  himself  was  vague.  Holt,  he 
said,  meant  to  send  him  to  Scotland,  but  he  did  not 
know  on  what  business.  But  when  he  saw  or  sus- 
pected that  his  associates  had  betrayed  him,  he  grew 
very  communicative  about  theTti.  He  had  heard 
Young  say  that  he  had  offered  Father  Holt  in 
writing  to  kill  the  Queen,  on  condition  of  a  good 
sum  of  money  paid  down,  and  more  afterwards. 
Williams  had  thereupon  said  that  he,  too,  would  do 
it  for  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  advancement  for 
his  house,  as  he  himself  would  be  sure  to  die  in  the 
attempt.  He  (Yorke)  declared  that  he  had  heard 
Sir  William  Stanley  say  that  if  the  Queen  were  to 
die,  he  would  take  his  regiment  to  Scotland,  and 
there  make  himself  strong,  after  which  he  and  all 
Englishmen  would  go  to  the  Earl  of  Derby.  Wil- 
liams also  had  said  in  his  hearing  that  if  he  came  to 
England,  he  would  commit  some  great  robbery,  and 
with  the  proceeds,  and  with  the  help  of  Pew,  would 
raise  a  rebellion. 

All  this  was  the  usual  swashbuckling  gossip  of 
the  Brussels  refugees,  directed  specially  to  the 
inculpation  of  Young  and  Williams,  whom  Yorke 
suspected  of  betraying  him.     Young,  he  said,   had 


156  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

sworn  to  kill  both  the  Queen  and  Buighley,  whilst 
Williams,  who  was  the  special  friend  of  Lieutenant 
Jacques  Francis,  had  talked  loosely  about  doing 
some  "  great  service "  in  England.  With,  these 
admissions  Essex  was  able  to  put  the  screw  on 
Young,  who  evidently  thought  that  Williams,  and 
not  Yorke,  had  betrayed  hir^i.  Williams,  he  said, 
had  stolen  eighteen  hundred  pounds-worth  of  church 
plate  from  Winchester,  and  had  coined  it  into 
money  in  the  chamber  of  his  uncle,  Sir  Griffin 
Markham,  in  Gray's  Inn,  sharing  it  with  others. 
He  had  afterwards  tried  to  break  into  the  Queen's 
palace  of  Whitehall  and  steal  her  jewels,  but  one  of 
the  parties  took  fright  and  the  attempt  failed.  He 
(Young)  had  written  letters  for  Williams  to  Dr. 
Gilford  and  other  English  refugees,  asking  for 
money  and  employment.  In  one  of  the  letters 
Williams  had  demanded  200  crowns  down  and 
advancement  for  his  house  for  the  service,  if  he 
perished  in  the  "action."  Dr.  GifFord  replied  to 
this  that  he  should  be  employed  with  Yorke.  Talk- 
ing of  the  killing  of  the  Queen,  Williams  had  said 
that  only  resolution  was  required,  to  which  Yorke 
had  replied  "  that  they  were  fools  to  think  of 
killing  the  Queen :  she  was  always  mewed  up  in  a 
chamber.  It  would  be  better  service  to  kill  the 
Lord  Treasurer's  horse,  for  he  would  take  it  so 
grievously  if  the  old  jade  were  dead  that  he  would 
die  too."  Williams  had  also  said  that  he  should 
like  to  tread  under  foot  the  base  nobility  of  England 
that  lived  in  servitude. 

These  avowals,  as  will  be  seen,  were  directed  mainly 
against  Williams,  and  when,  later  in  the  day  (12th 


YORKE    AND    WILLIAMS  157 

August),  he  was  confronted  with  Young's  accusa- 
tions, he  was  either  too  much  terrified  or  too  vain- 
glorious to  palliate  them  greatly.  He  confessed  that 
he  had  committed  a  robbery  in  England,  and  had 
taken  service  under  Essex  in  France  to  get  out  of  the 
way.  He  had  deserted  to  the  enemy,  and  now  came 
to  England  for  the  purpose  of  raising  rebellion,  as 
Young  had  stated.  It  was  quite  true  that  he  had 
sent  offering  his  services  in  England  to  Holt  and 
Gifford,  but  they  had  sent  him  a  cool  answer.  He 
admitted  that  there  was  much  talk  in  Brussels  about 
killing  the  Queen,  and  Young  had  said  that  he 
would  do  it  for  money ;  whereupon  Yorke  had 
ejaculated,  "  Tush  !  you  will  kill  the  Lord  Treasurer's 
nag."  Torture  soon  wrung  from  the  poor  wretch 
further  avowals.  He  gave  particulars  of  all  the 
Catholics  and  priests  he  knew,  and  was  ready  to 
confess  everything. 

Two  days  afterwards  Yorke  was  taken  in  hand. 
He  had  talked  wildly  and  rashly :  had  expressed  a 
wish  to  be  present  at  the  burning  of  London  :  had 
spoken  with  gross  disrespect  of  Lord  Burghley :  had 
said  that  he  knew  Young  to  be  an  expert  poisoner ; 
and  these  indiscretions,  and  the  avowals  of  Young 
and  Williams,  made  it  easy  for  Essex  and  Cobham 
to  handle  him.  On  the  rack  he  confessed  that 
Father  Holt  had  promised  him  100,000  or  200,000 
crowns  if  he  would  raise  a  rebellion  in  England, 
"or  do  some  notable  act."  The  plan,  he  said,  was 
to  seize  Conway ;  and  Williams  immediately  after- 
wards confirmed  him  in  all  that  he  admitted.  On 
the  20th  August  Yorke  was  again  examined  ;  and 
on   this  occasion   he   said  all  that  was   required  of 


158  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

him.  Holt,  he  confessed,  had  persuaded  him  to 
come  over  on  the  Queen's  pardon  and  live  at  court ; 
and  had  promised  him  on  oath  a  payment  of  40,000 
crowns,  guaranteed  by  Secretary  Ibarra,  if  he  killed 
the  Queen,  by  his  own  agents  or  by  means  of  two 
refugee  associates  designated  to  him.  At  the  con- 
ferences on  the  subject  he  had  met  Stanley,  Thomas 
Throgmorton,  Charles  Paget,  Dr.  Worthington,  and 
Dr.  Gifford,  and  various  means  of  committing  the 
crime  were  suggested — poignard,  arrow,  rapier,  and 
dagger,  to  be  used  on  the  Queen  as  she  walked  in 
her  garden.  He  had,  he  said,  received  forty  crowns 
from  Gifford  ;  but  they  had  kept  him  in  want,  in 
order  that  he  should  be  driven  to  undertake  the 
task.  The  plan  was  for  him,  Yorke,  to  have  entered 
the  household  of  Essex,  Williams  that  of  the  Lord 
Admiral  (Howard),  and  Young  that  of  the  Lord 
Chamberlain  ;  and  on  their  departure  they  partook 
of  the  sacrament  in  pledge  of  their  sincerity,  being 
absolved  by  Father  Holt. 

This  was  all  admitted  under  torture  ;  and  a  day 
or  two  afterwards  Young  alleged  that  in  conversation 
at  Calais  the  poor,  foolish  young  fellow  Yorke  had 
expressed  wonder  at  any  man  betraying  a  friend  on 
the  rack.  He  had  boasted  of  the  Duke  of  Parma's 
admiration  of  Sir  Rowland  Yorke's  firmness  under 
torture,  and  had  said,  if  they  both  kept  firmly 
secret,  they  might  yet  ride  through  London  with 
silver  footcloths.  Williams  in  the  same  conver- 
sation had  boasted  that  he  would  rather  die  than 
betray  his  friends  under  torture,  and  said  that  if 
anything  was  dragged  from  him  on  the  rack  he 
would  at  once  deny  it  again  when  he  was  taken 


YORKE   AND    WILLIAMS  159 

dovvu.  According,  however,  to  Young,  this  con- 
versation at  Calais  unnerved  Williams,  for  all  his 
bragging,  for  when  Essex's  passport  came  allowing 
them  to  go  to  England,  and  he  found  himself 
described  as  "  one  Williams,"  he  said  they  would 
be  foolish  to  go  over,  for  they  might  be  racked  and 
hanged.  Young  told  the  examiners,  too,  that  the 
Council  of  State  for  England,  which  met  in  the 
Jesuit  College  at  Brussels  every  morning,  consisted 
of  Charles  Paget,  Thomas  Throgmorton,  Hugh 
Owen,  Captain  Tresham,  and  Drs.  Holt,  Gifford, 
and  Worthington. 

Williams's  next  admission  was  unreserved  and 
damning.  On  the  27th  August  he  confessed,  as 
Yorke  had  done,  that  he  had  been  sent  by  Holt 
and  Stanley  to  kill  the  Queen,  on  promise  of  great 
revrard ;  and  both  he  and  Y^orke  had  taken  the 
sacrament  upon  it.  This  was  said  to  Sir  Michael 
Blount,  Sir  W.  Waad,  and  the  Attorney-General 
Coke  ;  but  Essex  made  Williams  repeat  the  state- 
ment in  his  presence,  and  wrote  on  the  document 
containing  it  that  "  Williams  had  said  that  he 
would  avow  it  to  his  death  before  Yorke's  face." 
There  was  no  need  for  it,  for  Y^orko  had  already 
told  almost  the  same  story,  and  death  for  high 
treason  was  the  inevitable  doom  of  both.^ 

There  are  two  things  specially  to  be  noted  in 
these  confessions,  and  they  did  not  escape  the  keen 
intellect  of  Lord  Burghley."  The  evidence  of  the 
complicity  of  Secretary  Ibarra  depends  only  upon 
Yorke's    statement    that    Holt    had    said    that    he 

'  All  these  confessions  are  in  State  Papeiv,  Dome.«tic,  ccxlix. 
-  Hatfield  Papers,  \'ol.  iv.  p.  607. 


i6o  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

guaranteed  the  payment ;  and  in  Lord  Burghley's 
hreviate  a  note  points  out  that  "this  is  all  against 
Ibarra  or  any  other  Spaniard ; "  and  secondly,  that 
in  the  list  of  persons  given  as  being  present  at  the 
conference  which  arranged  the  assassination  there 
appear  the  names  of  Charles  Paget,  Worthing- 
ton,  Gifford,  and  others,  who  were  known  to  be 
opposed  to  the  Jesuit  policy.^  This  was  considered 
important  enough  for  Yorke  to  be  re-examined  on 
the  point,  and  he  was  constrained  to  admit  that  he 
was  not  quite  sure  of  their  being  present.  This 
seems  to  indicate  that,  at  least  in  points  of  detail, 
his  evidence  cannot  be  depended  upon.  Holt  and 
the  few  extremists  in  Brussels,  who  had  been  at  the 
bottom  of  all  the  genuine  attempts  to  kill  Elizabetli, 
were  evidently  the  originators  of  this  ;  but  from  the 
day  of  its  discovery  until  now,  one  English  historian 
after  another  has  repeated  that  this  conspiracy  was  a 
Spanish  plot  hatched  by  Fuentes  and  Ibarra.  We 
have  seen  that  Ibarra's  connection  with  it  depends 
upon  a  second-hand  assertion,  unconfirmed  by  any  re- 
liable evidence,  and  yet  the  contemporary  writers  un- 
animously cast  themselves  specially  upon  this  point; " 

1  It  will  be  noted  that  Dr.  Gifford,  wlio  was  much  more  opposed 
than  Worthington  to  the  Spanish  party,  was  mentioned  by  the  prisoners 
in  this  case  as  an  active  accomplice.     This  is  difficult  to  believe. 

"  In  Yetswirt's  "  Sondry  Horrible  Treasons,"  written  almost  im- 
mediately after  the  event,  it  is  stated  that  Yorke  confessed  that "  Hugh 
Owen  showed  him  at  Brussels  an  assignation  in  writing,  signed  by 
Ibarra,  for  assurance  of  payment  of  40,000  crowns,  to  be  given  to  him 
from  the  King  of  Spain  if  he  should  kill  the  Queen,  or  should  assist 
Williams  or  any  other  to  perform  the  same.  The  assignation  was 
afterwards  deposited  with  Holt  the  Jesuit,  who  also  showed  it  to 
Yorke,  and  swore  on  the  saci^ament  to  pay  the  amount  as  soon  as  the 
fact  should  be  committed."  I  can  find  no  such  statements  in  Yorke's 
confessions  in  the  State  Papers.  The  main  point,  apparently,  was  to 
connect  Spaniards  with  the  plot. 


COMPLICITY    OF   SPANISH    MINISTERS    i6i 

and  tlie  plot  of  Holt,  Yorke,  and  Williams,  like  that 
of  Lopez,  served  as  fresh  fuel  for  the  fire  of  hatred 
■which  it  was  the  object  of  the  Essex  party  to  keep 
raging  between  England  and  Spain,  it  being  repre- 
sented that  Philip  and  his  Ministers,  both  in  the 
Lopez  case  and  this,  were  the  first  instigators  of  the 
murder  of  the  Queen. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  V 

Paris  Archives,  Uncalendared  MSS.,  K.  1578,  7  and  11.  As 
these  documents  have  never  been  printed,  and  prove  conckisively 
the  falsity  of  much  of  the  evidence  upon  which  Lopez  was 
convicted,  I  translate  them  here  entire.  They  are  in  the  form 
of  minutes  from  the  Secretary  of  State,  Moura,  to  Philip,  for 
his  consideration  and  approval,  and  though  they  bear  no  date, 
they  are  correctly  included  in  the  papers  for  1591. 

K.  1578,  7.     Paris  Archives  Nationales.     Fonds  Sivianeas. 

"  Respecting  Manuel  de  Andrada  and  Pedro  Marques  his 
companion. 

"The  things  proposed  by  Manuel  de  Andrada  are  three  in 
number : — 

"  I.  By  means  of  Dr.  Lopez  he  was  opening  negotiations  for 
peace  with  England  if  permission  be  given  to  him  to  do  so.  He 
believes  that  he  could  carry  these  through  successfully,  as  he 
understands  that  they  (the  English)  desire  it,  and  Dr.  Lopez 
assures  him  of  success. 

"2.  By  means  of  the  same  Dr.  Lopez  he  will  undertake,  if 
so  desired,  that  Don  Antonio  shall  never  leave  that  country 
(England). 

"3.  Or  otherwise  that  he  shall  be  expelled  at  once,  if  that 
course  be  preferred. 

"  Besides  these  three  things,  which  are  the  main  objects  of  his 
coming,  he  says  that  he  has  an  understanding  with  an  English- 
man, a  brother-in-law  of  the  said  Dr.  Lopez,  who  undertakes 
to  send  him  advices  of  events  there,  and  will  also  attempt  to 
do  another  secret  service  which  he  (Andrada)  recommended  to 
him.  This  understanding  with  the  brother-in-law  is  unknown 
to  Dr.  Lopez. 

"  It  appears  that  there  can  be  no  objection  in  letting  this  man 

(Andrada)  return  to  England ;   and  to  give  him  a  pretext  for 

162 


APPENDIX   TO   CHAPTER   V  163 

doing  so,  it  will  be  necessary  to  seize  upon  the  first  point  of  his 
proposals.  He  may  therefore  go  to  Calais,  and  write  from  there 
to  Dr.  Lopez  that  his  coming  has  been  prompted  by  the  common 
good,  begging  him  to  send  a  passport.  When  he  receives  the 
passport,  he  may  proceed  whithersoever  Dr.  Lopez  may  instruct 
him.  On  his  arrival  he  may  tell  him  that  he  had  proposed  the 
peace  negotiations  here  as  Lopez  had  requested  him,  and  had 
set  foith  the  Doctor's  good  services  ;  whereupon  all  the  (Spanish) 
Ministers  had  asked  him  (Andrada)  what  letters  of  credence  or 
other  authority  he  could  produce  to  enable  him  to  deal  in  the 
matter.  This  will  lead  them  to  infer  that,  if  he  had  brought 
such  credentials  he  would  have  been  favourably  listened  to; 
although,  at  the  same  time,  he  may  say  that  he  was  told  that 
it  would  be  necessary  for  the  peace  suggestions  to  be  accom- 
panied by  due  satisfaction  for  the  offences  inflicted  upon  Spain. 
Andrada  should  also  be  instructed  to  express  hopes  of  success 
on  some  such  basis  as  this,  as  if  of  his  own  motion,  in  oi-der  that 
he  may  have  an  excuse  for  remaining  there  safely  for  some 
time,  and  when  he  thinks  best  he  can  return  ostensibly  on  the 
same  matter. 

"  He  must  be  instructed  that,  whilst  he  remains  in  England, 
he  may  urge  Dr.  Lopez's  brother-in-law  to  do  the  secret  service 
proposed.  And  moreover,  since  Dr.  Lopez  himself  gave  his 
■word  to  get  Don  Antonio  expelled  from  England  if  his  Majesty 
desired,  he  should  be  asked  to  fulfil  his  promise  in  this  respect, 
as  his  offer  to  do  so  has  been  accepted,  and  his  good  service  in 
all  things  will  be  acknowledged. 

"  Under  cover  of  all  this,  Manuel  de  Andrada  must  inquire  and 
discover  everything  he  can  that  is  going  ou  there,  and  send  us 
full  advices  of  the  same 

"  It  is  only  reasonable  that  he  should  have  a  grant  in  aid. 
He  himself  proposes  a  grant  secured  on  some  Portuguese 
revenues. 

"  His  other  demands  must  remain  in  abeyance  for  the  present, 
but  he  may  proceed  on  his  service  in  the  assurance  that  on  his 
return  he  shall  be  very  highly  considered. 

"  In  addition  to  the  grant  in  aid  in  Portugal,  he  will  need  some 
money  for  his  voyage,  as  much  as  appears  necessary.  He  asks 
for  a  jewel  to  be  given  to  him  for  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Lopez, 
and  he  attaches  importance  to  this. 


164  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

"  He  also  requests  money  to  remunerate  the  man  he  has  gained 
to  give  him  information,  and  the  Doctor's  brother-in-law.  There 
seems  no  objection  to  this  being  done  in  moderation. 

"  Pedro  Mai-ques  will  apparently  follow  Andrada's  lead,  and 
will  be  more  easily  satisfied." 

This  document  was,  as  usual,  sent  by  the  King  to  Moura  for 
his  report  and  recommendations,  and  Moura  returned  the  fol- 
lowing, of  which  Philip  approved  : — 

"  The  opinion  of  Don  Ci^istohal  de  Moura  respecting  the  matter 
of  Manuel  de  Andrada. 

"  He  should  be  given  300  reals  as  a  grant  in  aid  for  the 
expenses  of  his  journey  to  England  with  his  companion. 

"  In  addition  to  this  he  may  be  told  that  he  shall  have  a 
grant  not  exceeding  thirty  reals  (per  month  ?)  secured  on  Indian 
revenues,  but  other  than  those  that  he  proposes,  as  they  cannot 
be  allowed. 

"  It  will  be  just  to  give  him  something  for  the  daughter  of 
Dr.  Lopez,  and  this  may  be  one  of  the  old  jewels  from  his 
Majesty's  caskets. 

"  It  will  also  be  advisable  to  give  him  something  for  the 
brother-in-law  of  Dr.  Lopez,  who  offers  to  do  the  service,  and 
also  for  the  other  confidant  who  gives  information.  But  as  at 
present  there  is  no  money  to  spare,  it  will  perhaps  be  best  to 
take  for  this  purpose  also  some  of  the  jewels  from  the  said  old 
caskets  belonging  to  his  Majesty,  as  is  suggested  above  for  the 
other  gift." 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  complete  separation  of  the  two  sections  of  Englisli  Catholics — 
Alarm  in  England  at  the  Spanish  armaments  —  Drake's  last 
voyage  —  Tyrone's  declaration  —  Promise  of  Spanish  aid  —  Irish 
emissaries  to  Spain — The  expeditions  of  Captains  Cobos,  Medi- 
nilla,  and  Cisneros  to  Ireland — Their  description  of  Ireland — 
Breakdown  of  the  Spanish  Administration — Essex's  attack  upon 
Cadiz. 

The  iudignant  alarm  aroused  amongst  Englishmen 
of  all  classes  by  the  constant  threats  of  conspiracy 
and  foreign  invasion  on  the  part  of  the  extreme 
faction  of  refugees,  was  now  rapidly  hurrying  on  the 
complete  division  amongst  Catholics,  which  finally 
led  to  the  victory  of  Protestantism  and  the  peaceful 
succession  of  James  to  the  English  throne.  The 
seminaries  had  all  been  captured  by  the  Jesuit  party; 
the  moderating  influence  of  Cardinal  Allen  had  dis- 
appeared with  his  death  (October  1 594) ;  Father 
Persons,  with  indefatigable  activity  and  zeal,  practi- 
cally controlled  Philip's  policy  with  regard  to  Eng- 
land ;  and  Father  Holt  in  Flanders,  by  his  hauteur 
and  violence  alienated  all  but  those  whose  views 
were  as  extreme  as  his  own.  These  causes  together 
operated  in  the  formation  of  a  strong  anti-Jesuit 
Catholic  party  in  England  and  abroad.  We  have 
seen  that  from  the  first  the  secular  priests  disap- 
proved of  the  violent  political  action  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Company,  and  had  smarted  under  their  airs  of 
superiority.     Ever  since  the  defeat  of  the  Armada  and 

.6s 


1 66  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

the  exposure  of  Philip's  real  objects,  the  breach  had 
been  widening,  but  the  reconciliation  of  Henry  IV. 
to  Rome,  and  the  now  acknowledged  hopelessness  of 
Philip's  attempt  to  gain  for  his  favourite  daughter  a 
foothold  in  France,  gave  rise  to  circumstances  which 
drove  both  sections  of  Catholics  still  farther  apart. 
Henry  IV.  being  now  a  faithful  son  of  the  Church, 
and  the  French  interest  in  the  counsels  of  the 
Vatican  being  restored,  the  anti-Spanish  Catholic 
party  was  greatly  strengthened,  whilst  the  Jesuit 
interest,  to  counterbalance  this,  endeavoured  to 
pledge  the  King  of  Spain  to  its  uncompromising 
course  by  openly  advocating  as  their  candidate  for 
the  English  throne  the  Infanta  Isabel  Clara  Eugenia, 
who,  through  Philip's  father  and  mother,  claimed  the 
crown  by  right  of  descent  from  John  of  Gaunt  and 
Edward  HI.  The  book  published  by  Persons  under 
the  name  of  Dolman,  and  dedicated,  with  character- 
istic audacity,  to  the  ambitious  favourite,  Essex, 
completely  opened  the  eyes  of  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants alike.  Its  effect  upon  the  English  Catholics 
was  marked  and  immediate.  The  group  of  exiles 
who  followed  Charles  Paget  and  Dr.  Gifford  in 
Flanders  and  the  Bishop  of  Cassano  in  Italy  de- 
nounced the  unpatriotic  Englishmen  who  would 
submit  their  country  to  a  foreign  yoke  ;  the  turbulent 
English  students  in  Rome  broke  out  into  open  re- 
volt against  their  Jesuit  masters,^  and  the  Catholic 
prisoners  in  the  castle  of  Wisbech  divided  into  two 
distinct  antagonistic  sections,  even  in  their  common 

^  Full  particulars  of  this  disturbance  will  be  found  in  Law's  "  Jesuits 
and  Seculars,"  p.  xxix.,  and  the  sequel  may  be  followed  in  "  The 
Archpriest  Controversy  "  (Camden  Society). 


JESUITS   V.   SECULARS  167 

tribulation.  To  make  matters  worse,  the  cardinal's 
hat  vacant  by  the  death  of  Allen  was  struggled  for 
with  so  much  acrimony  by  both  sections,  that  neither 
Persons,  Stapleton,  nor  the  Bishop  of  Cassano  got  it, 
and  the  much  needed  English  Catholic  prelate,  with 
sufficient  authority  to  introduce  a  spirit  of  modera- 
tion on  both  sides,  was  not  appointed.  Moderation 
and  compromise,  indeed,  were  utterly  foreign  to 
Persons'  methods  and  aims  ;  ^  and  the  secular  priests, 
on  the  other  hand,  did  not  mince  their  words  when 
they  exposed  the  disastrous  eifects  produced  upon 
the  Catholic  cause  in  England  by  Jesuit  action."^ 
They  who,  for  the  great  part,  had  to  bear  the  brunt 
of  the  persecution,  could  not  fail  to  see  that  the 
constant  impotent  aggression  kept  up  by  the  extreme 
party  from  its  safe  refuge  on  the  other  side  of  the 
water  gave  justification  for  the  severe  penal  enact- 
ments from  which  all  Catholics  suffered. 

The  cause  of  Spain  itself,  moreover,  was  irretriev- 

1  111  1596  Persons  threw  down  the  gage  anew  by  circulating  his 
manuscript  book  called  "  Memorial  of  the  Reformation  in  England," 
in  which  he  set  forth  his  views  as  to  how  this  should  be  carried  out, 
in  case  he  died  before  the  restoration  of  Catholicism.  There  was  to  be 
no  "  huddling  up  "  this  time,  he  said,  whereby  fallen  priests  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  altar,  with  no  other  satisfaction  but  sending  away  their 
concubines.  The  Church  property  was  to  be  restored  ;  there  was  to  be 
no  political  paltering  with  that  question,  as  there  had  been  in  Mary's 
time;  and  "some  good  and  sound  manner  of  Inquisition"  must  be 
established.  It  is  plain  to  see  that  the  only  Catholic  England  with 
which  Persons  would  be  contented  was  one  modelled  on  Catholic  Spain. 
It  is  evident,  from  such  blind  bigotry  as  this,  that  Persons,  for  all  his 
ability,  was  utterly  out  of  touch  with  the  vast  majority  of  his  country- 
men, and  that  the  adoption  of  such  a  policy  as  his  by  the  only  foreign 
power  thut  could  etfectively  aid  the  Catholics  of  England  to  reassert 
the  supremacy  of  their  faith,  rendered  their  cause  hopeless. 

2  See  Father  Bagshaw's  "  True  Relation,"  reprinted  in  Law's 
"  Jesuits  and  Seculars." 


1 68  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

ably  damaged  by  the  policy  of  the  hot-headed  zealots 
who  bragged  and  swaggered  in  Flanders,  and  who 
wrote  impracticable  and  violent  books  in  Spain. 
All  England  was  kept  in  a  ferment  and  for  ever  on 
the  alert.  Philip's  slow  and  cumbrous  methods  made 
sudden  action  at  a  moment  when  England  was  un- 
prepared in  any  case  difficult,  but  thanks  to  the 
continual  threatening  boasts  and  abortive  plots  of 
Stanley  and  his  party  and  the  alarmist  reports  of  the 
English  spies,  all  the  Spanish  plans  were  forestalled 
long  before  they  were  even  matured. 

As  we  have  seen  in  chapter  iii.,  the  English  Govern- 
ment were  fully  informed  of  the  proceedings  of  both 
the  Scottish  and  Irish  emissaries  in  Spain  during  the 
winter  of  1594  and  the  spring  and  summer  of  1595, 
and,  as  usual,  gave  to  Philip  a  credit  for  promptness 
and  liberality  in  acceding  to  the  prayers  for  help  which 
neither  his  character  nor  his  resources  permitted. 
He  was  chronically  in  want  of  money,  and  the  capture 
of  his  treasure  fleet,  or  any  considerable  portion  of  it, 
crippled  him  for  a  year  at  least.  The  loss  of  Brest 
had  made  a  direct  invasion  of  England  in  force  again 
impossible,  for  Blavet  was  too  small  a  port  for  the 
rendezvous  of  a  great  navy,  and  the  new  ships  which 
the  Spaniards  had  constructed,  although  persistently 
viewed  in  England  as  a  threatening  Armada  destined 
for  invasion,  were,  in  fact,  mainly  intended  to  protect 
Spanish  trade  and  to  ensure  the  arrival  of  the  treasure 
fleets,  upon  which  the  potency  of  Spain  depended. 
Although,  therefore,  the  English  knew  it  not,  Philip 
was  in  a  position  to  give  only  very  small  aid,  if  any 
at  all,  in  1595  to  those  who  were  urging  him  to  strike 
a  blow  which  should  overturn  Protestantism  in  the 


DRAKE'S   LAST    VOYAGE  169 

three  kingdoms.  But  the  constant  alarm  in  which 
Enghmd  was  kept  by  the  action  of  the  extremists  in 
Flanders,  cleverly  and  systematically  exaggerated  by 
the  Essex  war  party  at  home,^  led  to  the  re-adoption 
of  an  aggressive  policy  on  the  part  of  England  in 
1595,  which  drove  Philip  to  despair,  and  compelled 
him  to  make  one  more  great  effort,  by  which  at  least 
the  English  might  be  diverted  from  ravaging  his  own 
coasts  and  commerce. 

Drake  had  for  years  been  under  a  cloud,  though 
doing  useful  work  at  Plymouth,  but  he  chafed  at 
the  naval  supineness  which  had  fallen  upon  the 
councils  of  Elizabeth.  He  knew  that  without  the 
money  from  America,  Philip,  the  national  enemy, 
was  powerless,  and  Protestantism  safe.  The  treasure 
depot  at  Panama  was  the  heart  from  which  flowed 
the  life-blood  of  Spain.  Let  me  strike  at  that, 
prayed  Drake,  and  the  giant  sinks  to  impotence. 
Elizabeth  doubted  and  hesitated  long ;  for  she  hated 
her  wooden  walls  to  drift  too  far  away,  and  the 
stories  of  Philip's  preparations  and  the  B^arnais' 
shiftiness  grew  more  and   more  alarming,  thanks  to 

^  A  good  instance  of  this  is  seen  when  Antonio  Perez  was  sent  back 
to  the  court  of  Henry  IV.  much  against  his  will  by  Essex  in  1595.  His 
mission  was  to  send  alarming  news  to  Essex  as  to  Henry's  intentions  to 
make  peace  with  Spain  and  break  with  England,  tlie  object  of  Essex 
being  to  force  Elizabeth  to  join  Henry  against  the  common  enemy.  At 
the  beginning  of  1 596  Sir  Henry  Unton  was  sent  to  France  on  a  special 
mission,  officially  to  offer  Henry  further  help  in  return  for  the  occupa- 
tion by  England  as  security  of  Calais  and  some  other  French  towns. 
Unton,  however,  was  secretly  instructed  by  Essex  to  prompt  Henry  to 
feign  anger  and  indignation  with  England  and  to  threaten  to  make 
friends  with  Spain.  Unton  was  to  "  send  us  thundering  letters,  where- 
by he  must  drive  us  to  propound  and  offer."  This  was  behind  the  hack 
of  the  Cecils  and  the  rest  of  the  Council.  See  "The  Great  Lord 
Burghley,"  by  the  present  writer. 


lyo  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

Essex's  cleverness.  But  at  last  the  Queen  con- 
sented, and  in  January  1595  gave  to  the  great 
Admiral  his  last  commission,  she  herself  providing 
a  powerful  contingent  to  the  joint-stock  fleet.  The 
news  stirred  England  like  a  bugle-blast,  and  volun- 
teers flocked  in  thousands  to  join  the  expedition  ; 
for  on  the  sea  the  English  could  beat  the  Spaniards 
wherever  they  met  them,  and  the  temper  of  the 
country  was  in  favour  of  bold  offensive  action — 
especially  with  abundant  loot  in  sight. 

The  terror  of  Drake's  name  had  lost  none  of  its 
potency  in  Spain,  and  the  news  that  he  was  to 
sail  the  sea  again  fell  upon  Philip  like  a  blight. 
In  March  and  April,  we  are  told,  thousands  of 
Spanish  soldiers  deserted.  Lisbon  in  a  single  week 
was  abandoned  in  a  panic  by  most  of  its  in- 
habitants. "  From  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  all  the 
people  had  no  other  talk  than  of  Drake's  coming,"  ^ 
wrote  one  of  Burghley's  spies ;  and  a  traveller 
returning  from  Spain  in  April  1595"  testified  that 
"  the  intelligence  there  that  Sir  Francis  Drake  is 
preparing  to  go  to  sea  wonderfully  troubles  them, 
because  of  the  Indian  fleet  which  is  to  bring  great 
treasure,  and  the  King  is  in  great  want  of  money." 
The  same  informant  says  that  the  people  in  Lisbon 
were  in  great  fear.  "  The  King  has  made  great 
preparations  ;  but  if  this  money  does  not  come  he 
will  be  unable  to  offend  or  invade  this  year.  The  de- 
ponent learnt  that  an  Irish  bishop  went  from  Spain 
to  the  Earl  of  Tyrone  last   Christmas,  and  certain 

1  State  Papers,  Domestic,  March  i6,  1595. 

2  Examination  of   Richardson,  State   Papers,   Domestic,  April  26, 

1595- 


ALARM   IN   SPAIN   AND   ENGLAND     171 

men  with  him,  by  whom  the  King  promised  to 
send  the  Earl  4000  men  every  year  to  assist  him. 
But  he  will  send  nothing  until  he  knows  M^here 
Sir  Francis  Drake  is  going.  Also,  lately  a  gentle- 
man from  the  northern  Lords  of  Scotland  was  sent 
from  them  to  the  King  (of  Spain),  and  a  priest  in 
his  company.  The  Lords  demand  money  to  be  lent 
to  them,  and  the  King  offered  to  give  them  money 
if  they  will  assure  him  to  land  men  in  Scotland 
where  he  shall  appoint,  and  will  help  him  with 
10,000  men  to  join  him  in  his  pay."  ^  "  Had  Drake 
been  able  to  strike  whilst  the  enemy  were  thus  ripe 
for  defeat,  the  blow  must  have  been  of  deep  effect, 
but  the  usual  interminable  delays  prevented  his 
sailing.  The  Queen  laid  the  blame  on  the  admirals, 
the  admirals  on  the  Queen." "  But  whilst  Drake, 
hampered  by  Hawkins  and  the  old  politicians  in 
London,  was  thus  delayed,  the  Spanish  treasure  fleet 
arrived  safely ;  ^  and  reports,  more  alarming  than 
ever,  of  Philip's  preparations  and  intentions  came 
fast  and  thick  from  the  spies.  In  July  colour  was 
given  to  these  reports  by  the  sudden  raid  of  four 
galleys  with  400  Spaniards  on  the  Cornish  coast. 
The  country  around  Newlyn  and  Penzance  was 
burnt  and  devastated,  and  the  towns  and  villages 
were  destroyed.  The  country  levies  in  a  panic  fled, 
leaving  Sir  Francis  Godolphin,  their  commander, 
with  only  five  or  six  gentlemen  to  stand  by  him,  and 
the    triumphant    Spaniards    ostentatiously    attended 


^  Examination  of   Ricliardson,  State    Papers,   Domestic,  April   26, 

1595- 
2  Corbett's  "  Drake  and  Tudor  Navy." 
-  State  Papers,  Domestic,  May  17,  1595,  Palavicini  to  Burghley. 


172  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Mass  upon  a  hill  overlooking  the  smoking  ruins 
of  Penzance.  Rumours  flew  through  England  that 
the  Armada  was  now  to  be  avenged.  But  after 
all,  the  whole  business  was  but  a  flash  in  the  pan. 
The  four  vessels  had  been  driven  from  Brittany 
into  Penzance  by  the  stress  of  weather  and  lack 
of  drinking  water,  and  the  invaders,  finding  the 
place  unprotected,  had  worked  their  will.  They 
soon  grew  frightened  at  their  own  temerity,  and 
took  advantage  of  a  northern  breeze  to  run  back  in 
safety  to  Blavet.  But  the  raid  thoroughly  alarmed 
the  Queen,  and  she  determined  to  forbid  Drake 
from  sailing  on  his  voyage.  She  had  just  received 
also  the  news — premature,  as  we  have  seen  in  a 
former  chapter — of  an  intended  expedition  in  force 
being  about  to  sail  from  Spain  to  aid  the  Ulster 
rebels,  and  she  ordered  Drake  to  await  on  the 
coast  of  Ireland  the  threatened  approach  of  the 
Spaniards.  Failing  to  meet  them,  he  was  to  proceed 
to  the  Spanish  coast  and  to  intercept  any  Spanish 
naval  force  that  might  sail  from  there  towards 
England ;  and  if  no  such  Spanish  force  appeared, 
he  was  to  cruise  for  a  month  on  the  look  out  for 
Spanish  galleons  homeward  bound,  and  finally 
proceed  on  the  voyage  to  Panama,  on  the  un- 
derstanding that  he  must  be  back  in  England  in 
the  following  spring,  to  withstand  the  threatened 
invasion.  These  instructions  were  ridiculous,  and 
would  have  meant  the  abandonment  of  the  Panama 
expedition  altogether.  The  politicians  and  lands- 
men were  once  more  for  tying  the  hands  of  the 
great  seaman  on  his  own  element ;  but  Drake  was 
a  hard  man  to  bind,  and  he  told  the  Council  that, 


DRAKE'S   LAST   VOYAGE  173 

though  on  his  way  south  he  would  look  out  for 
any  Spanish  force  bound  for  England  and  follow 
it,  he  could  not  remain  wasting  precious  time  on 
the  coast  of  Ireland. 

The  Queen  herself  thereupon  wrote  a  letter 
(August  9)  to  the  admirals,  telling  them  in  strict 
secrecy  "  what  she  should  require  of  them,"  and  the 
reasons  for  the  orders  she  gave.  She  had  been 
advised,  she  said,  that  three  squadrons  were  being 
fitted  out  in  Spain,  one  at  Cadiz,  another  at  Lisbon, 
and  a  third  at  Ferrol,  Corunna,  and  the  Biscay 
ports.  "  By  some  reports,  we  think  they  intend  a 
voyage  to  Ireland,  to  land  about  Tredagh  ;  we  cannot 
understand  whether  it  is  to  be  before  next  winter, 
but  we  suspect  it.  The  preparations  in  Spain  are 
greater  than  in  1588,  and  it  is  not  to  be  doubted 
they  intend  to  invade  England  or  Ireland  next 
summer.  For  this  reason  we  find  it  dangerous  to 
yield  to  your  departure  at  present,  and  especially 
before  the  present  attempt  in  Ireland  be  discovered  ; 
but,  most  of  all,  lest  you  should  not  have  returned 
next  summer  in  convenient  time  to  help  to  do  ser- 
vice against  the  Spanish  army,  expected  to  attempt 
the  invasion  of  this  realm  about  June  or  July."  ^ 
She  forbade  them,  in  fact,  to  sail  at  all  unless  they 
promised  to  be  back  by  the  following  May,  however 
profitable  the  voyage  might  be.  If  they  could  not 
promise  that,  they  were  to  consider  what  they  could 
do  now  to  destroy  ships  and  stores  on  the  coasts  of 
Spain,  so  as  to  prevent  an  invasion  of  England  in 
the  following  year.  They  replied  that  their  ships 
had  been  fitted  out  by  a  joint-stock  enterprise  for  a 

1  State  Papers,  Domestic,  ccliii.  August  9,  1595. 


174  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

certain  purpose,  and  were  not  adapted  to  such  work 
as  she  indicated,  but,  if  she  insisted  upon  it,  she 
must  bear  the  whole  expense  of  the  squadron  her- 
self. She  was  deeply  incensed  at  this.  Burghley 
and  Howard,  neither  of  them  a  friend  of  Drake, 
supported  the  Queen,  and  Elizabeth  grew  more  tart 
and  peremptory  in  every  letter  as  the  admirals  re- 
mained firm,^  so  that  it  was  already  September  1595 
before  the  two  great  seamen,  Drake  and  Hawkins, 
already  at  loggerheads,  sailed  from  England  to  re- 
turn no  more. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  supposed  danger  of  a 
Spanish  invasion  for  that  year,  which  had  really 
never  existed,  had  disappeared,  but  Philip  was 
slowly  maturing  the  plans  upon  which  he  had  de- 
cided to  cripple  England,  by  bringing,  as  he  said, 
the  fire  to  her  own  doors.  We  have  seen  that  the 
Archbishop  of  Tuam  had  advised  Philip  to  write  a 
loving  letter  to  Tyrone,  urging  him  to  avow  himself 
openly  on  the  side  of  the  Catholics.  Accompanied 
by  an  Irishman  named  Lacy  and  a  Spanish  captain, 
the  Archbishop  sailed  from  Spain,  carrying  this  and 
other  letters  to  the  Irish  chiefs,  assuring  them  of 
Spanish  support  if  Tyrone  declared  himself  at  one 
with  O'Donnell,  Macguire,  and  O'Rourke.  Of  the 
Archbishop  and  his  companions  no  more  was  ever 
seen  on  earth ;  but  doubtless  intelligence  of  the 
message  they  bore  reached  Tyrone  by  other  means ; 
and  in  the  summer  of  1595  he  boldly  threw  off"  the 
mask,  called  himself  by  the  forbidden  name  of  the 
O'Neil,  and  defied  the  English  garrison. 

The  news  rejoiced  the  little  knot  of  fervid  Irish- 

^  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  v. 


TYRONE    REBELS  175 

men  who  waited  and  prayed  in  the  Peninsula,  for 
it  meant  to  most  of  them  the  certain  prospect  of 
returning  to  the  land  they  loved.  The  Bishop  of 
Killaloe,  the  most  ardent  patriot  of  them  all,  wrote 
in  July  to  Tyrone  hailing  his  action  with  praise  and 
gratitude,  hoping  "  that  by  his  means  the  Catholic 
faith  should  be  spread  over  the  whole  country,  so 
that  there,  where  the  body  of  St.  Patrick  rests,  there 
also  should  the  restitution  of  that  faith  be  accom- 
plished, and  the  honour  and  praise  of  it  remain  for 
evermore."  Now,  he  says,  that  we  know  that  the 
Earl  of  Tyrone  has  openly  taken  up  arms  with  other 
chieftains  against  the  Queen,  I  have  every  confi- 
dence you  will  meet  with  success.  "  I  have  ear- 
nestly, but  with  great  caution,  persuaded  the  King 
to  send  you  a  fleet  with  which  to  oppose  the  enemy 
and  subjugate  the  English  Government,  and  that 
you  may  free  yourself  and  all  your  people  from  the 
oppressive  yoke  of  the  English  for  ever.  Further- 
more, I  find  the  King  most  willing  to  send  you 
immediate  assistance.  Wherefore  you  must  man- 
fully and  bravely  resist,  without  making  any  peace 
or  treaty  with  the  enemies  of  the  faith  ;  for  King- 
Philip  has  seen  these  letters,  and  has  told  me  to 
write  that  you  shall  be  helped  immediately,  so  that 
you  may  crush  the  enemy.  ...  I  promise  you  that 
instant  succour  shall  not  he  wanting.  .  .  .  The  one 
thing  I  ask  and  pray  is,  that  you  make  no  peace 
with  the  foe  until  I  come  to  you." 

This  must  have  reached  Tyrone  in  August  1595, 
shortly  after  his  successive  defeats  at  Armagh  and 
Newry  at  the  hands  of  the  Lord-Deputy  Russell  and 
General  Sir  John  Norreys,  and  doubtless  caused  his 


176  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

changed  tone  towards  the  English.  Time  seemed 
now  the  principal  thing  to  be  gained  by  the  Ulster- 
men  until  the  promised  "  immediate "  aid  reached 
them  from  Spain,  and  Tyrone's  new  temporising 
with  his  enemies  was  obviously  only  in  the  hope 
that  the  Bishop  of  Killaloe's  promise  for  Philip 
should  be  promptly  kept.  Alas  !  Tyrone  then  knew 
less  of  the  Spanish  King's  methods  than  we  do,  or 
than  he  himself  learnt  afterwards,  to  his  cost.  In 
September  the  Ulster  chief  called  beseechingly  upon 
Philip  to  send  the  aid  "now  or  never,"  and  with  his 
letter  to  the  King  sent  others  addressed  to  the 
Spanish  commanders  in  Brittany,  praying  them  to 
urge  their  master  to  promptness.  "  Ireland,"  said 
Tyrone,  "  would  acknowledge  no  other  King  than 
his  Catholic  Majesty.  If  I  may  know  for  surety 
that  I  shall  have  Spanish  aid,  I  will  make  no  peace 
with  the  heretics.  They  shall  fail  within  a  year  in 
Ireland  like  smoke  before  the  flame." 

But  these  letters  were  intercepted,  and  the  bearer, 
an  Irish  priest,  O'Cullan,  was  put  under  examination 
and  forced  to  tell  his  story ;  how  he  had  come  from 
Spain  twenty  days  before,  and  how  the  Earl,  when 
he  gave  him  the  letters  for  Spain,  bade  him  be 
importunate  for  an  answer,  or  he  might  be  obliged 
to  make  peace  with  the  English.  He  was  to  ask  the 
Spaniards,  he  said,  for  3000  or  4000  troops  before 
May  at  latest ;  but  if  the  men  could  not  come  so 
soon,  at  least  the  King  should  send  to  Ireland  muni- 
tions and  money.  If  the  King  would  thus  help 
them,  the  envoy  was  bidden  to  say  that  they  would 
"  submit  themselves  to  be  governed  by  him  as  good 
subjects." 


TYRONE   APPEALS   TO    PHILIP        177 

But  though  these  missives  were  captured,  Tyrone 
contrived  to  send  his  Jesuit  confessor,  Father  Mum- 
ford,  with  similar  urgent  letters  a  few  weeks  after- 
wards,^ whilst  he  artfully  kept  up  his  show  of 
negotiations  with  the  Lord-Deputy,  much  to  the 
disgust  of  Norreys,  who  was  all  for  striking  a  blow 
at  the  rebel  combination  by  crushing  Connaught, 
now  that  "  their  hearts  are  broken  in  Ulster."  The 
Queen,  he  w^arned  Burghley,  must  make  up  her  mind 
either  to  end  the  war  by  conciliation,  or  else  pro- 
vide full  and  timely  resources  to  root  out  the  rebels 
for  once  and  for  all.  The  latter,  Elizabeth,  in  her 
frugality,  was  unwilling  to  do,  and  the  hollow  nego- 
tiations with  Tyrone  dragged  on.  The  exaggerated 
reports  of  preparations  in  Spain  came  almost  weekly 
to  the  English  Government,  whilst  Russell,  the  Lord- 
Deputy,  with  every  fresh  report  warned  Burghley 
and  the  Queen  that  Tyrone  was  only  dallying  until 

J  The  most  exaggerated  news  of  Tyrone's  successes  was  current  in 
Spain  at  the  time.  The  Venetian  Ambassador  in  October  sent  to  the 
Doge  a  report  which  had  been  brouglit  to  Lisbon  by  a  caravel  that  had 
sailed  from  Ireland  on  the  21st  September,  doubtless  the  vessel  which 
conveyed  Father  Mumford.  "Tyrone,"  the  report  said,  "had  found 
himself  face  to  face  with  Norreys,  near  Antrim  ;  and  in  reply  to  an 
oflFer  of  the  Queens  pardon  if  he  laid  down  his  arms,  the  Prince  O'Neil 
had  refused  peace  unless  all  his  friends  were  pardoned,  the  Catholic 
religion  allowed  without  molestation,  and  the  exiles  restored  to  their 
estates  and  revenues.  In  the  battle  that  ensued  on  the  19th  September, 
on  a  great  plain,  the  heretics,  to  the  number  of  8cxx3,  were  routed  and 
broken.  Norreys  himself  was  woundeii  by  a  shot  in  the  arm,  and  his 
brother  dangerously  in  the  thigh.  Fifteen  hundred  trained  troops  fell, 
and  they  say  that  not  an  Englisliman  escaped  except  a  lew  fu,L,'itives 
who  fled  to  a  fort  where  there  are  400  wounded  and  dead.  O'Neil 
captured  all  the  heavy  guns  and  baggage.  At  the  same  time  another 
officer  of  the  Catholic  League  routed  300  English  in  Connaught. 
O'Neil  is  said  to  have  burnt  four  of  the  principal  of  the  heretic 
officers  though  Norreys  ottered  large  sums  for  their  ransom  "  (Vene- 
tian Calendar). 

M 


178  TREASON  AND   PLOT 

the  promised  Spanish  force  should  come.  But 
nothing  could  persuade  or  convince  Elizabeth  to 
adopt  a  liberal  or  bold  course,  so  the  talk  of  truce 
and  "  composition  "  with  Tyrone  continued,  whilst 
O'Donnell  and  O'Rourke,  less  diplomatic  than  their 
chief,  sulked  unappeased  amongst  their  bogs  and 
mountains. 

In  the  meanwhile,  swift  pinnaces  ran  backwards 
and  forwards  from  Sligo  and  Donegal  to  Spain. 
Several  of  them  were  lost  or  captured  by  the  Eng- 
lish, but  some  of  the  messages  reached  Philip  from 
the  chieftains.  The  news  of  Tyrone's  diplomacy  was 
as  gall  and  wormwood  to  him,  and  for  a  time  the 
principal  Irish  hero  in  Spain  was  not  the  temporising 
Earl,  but  Bryan  Oge  O'Rourke  of  the  Battle-axes, 
who  still  smote  the  English  who  came  within  his 
reach.  Early  in  the  year  1596  an  Irish  priest, 
Brian  O'Donnell,  was  sent  from  Spain  with  messages 
to  the  chiefs,  praying  them  not  to  make  truce  or 
peace  with  the  heretics,  and  promising  them  aid  if 
they  would  keep  in  arms.  To  O'Rourke  especially 
letters  of  fervent  praise  and  exhortation  were  written 
by  Philip  II.,  and  by  the  Bishop  of  Killaloe  in 
Lisbon,  congratulating  him  upon  his  recent  victory 
over  an  English  force,  and  promising  him  a  prompt 
remittance  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war.  The 
Bishop's  letter,  however,  plainly  indicates  the  know- 
ledge that  the  attempt  to  withstand  the  English  in 
Ireland,  except  under  Tyrone's  leadership,  will  be 
hopeless,  and  he  urges  O'Rourke  to  obey  the  Earl 
in  all  things.  The  Bishop  requests  O'Rourke,  also, 
to  get  '*  some  principal  learned  man  to  write  in  his 
(O'Rourke's)  name  to  the  Pope,  beseeching  him  to 


IRISH    ENVOYS   TO    SPAIN  179 

separate  Ireland   for  ever  from  the  English  domi- 
nation, and  to  appoint  Tyrone  King  of  Ireland."  ^ 

When  Father  O'Donnell  arrived  at  Donegal,  he 
found  the  truce  between  Tyrone  and  the  English 
about  to  be  signed,  but  was  assured  by  the  Ulster 
chiefs  that  it  was  only  a  subterfuge  to  enable  them 
to  await  the  coming  of  the  Spanish  force ;  and 
O'Donnell,  the  chief,  and  CRourke  sent  their  con- 
fessor, another  Irish  priest,  to  Spain  for  the  purpose 
of  explaining  the  situation  to  Philip.  '  here  was 
no  pinnace  available  to  carry  him  across,  so  he  had 
to  travel  in  disguise  through  the  English  pale  to 
Dublin,  and  leaving  Connaught  in  March,  it  took 
him  two  months  to  arrive  in  the  presence  of  the 
King.  The  relation  he  gave  is  extremely  curious,^ 
though  apparently  highly  tinged  by  Celtic  imagi- 
nation. In  the  beginning  of  January,  he  said,  the 
Earl  of  Tyrone,  who  was  now  Prince  and  Grand 
O'Neil,  issued  from  his  principality  of  Ulster,  "  which 
is  the  fifth  part  of  Ireland,"  and  came  within  eight 
leagues  of  Dublin,  where  many  Catholic  gentlemen 
joined  him,  "especially  a  great  gentleman  named 
O'Reilly,  with  all  his  following,  his  estates  being 
thirty  leagues  long.  They  took  a  fortress  called 
Cavan,  and  killed  all  the  heretics  there.  All  the 
Catholic  gentlemen  of  Meath  sent  Avord  that  if  the 
Catholic  King  would   send   them   help  they  would 

'  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Bisliop  himself  was  an  O'Neil. 
The  iidvice  to  O'Rourke  to  get  s^ome  "princijial  learned  man"  to  write 
his  letters  was  less  needed  in  his  case  than  in  some  others.  O'Rourke 
had  been  an  Oxford  student,  and  his  signature  is  well  written.  The 
letters  from  the  chiefs  are  generally  written  in  Latin  by  priests  and 
signed  by  themselves  either  in  Latin  or  in  Irish. 

2  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


i8o  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

join  at  once."  A  cousin  of  Tyrone,  he  reported, 
Brian  O'Iseil,  had  also  killed  400  heretics  at  Newry, 
and  as  many  more  at  Carlingford.  On  the  13th 
February,  in  Connaught,  O'Donnell  and  O'Rourke 
had  gathered  an  army  of  8000  foot  and  500  horse, 
with  which  they  had  approached  Galway,  the  only 
strong  place  held  by  the  English,  where  they  were 
met  by  3000  of  the  enemy,  very  few  of  whom 
escaped  by  Hight  to  the  shelter  of  the  city  walls  ;  the 
Catholics  being  unable  to  attack  Galway  for  want 
of  artillery.  Three  days  after  this  victory,  continued 
the  confessor,  six  great  chiefs  who  had  been  on  the 
side  of  the  English  joined  the  Catholics,  with  all 
their  vassals.  The  O'Connor  Don,  with  twenty 
leagues  of  land,  O'Kelly  with  as  much,  O'Connor 
Roe  (McDermot)  with  twelve  leagues,  O'Malley 
with  eight  leagues,  Macguire  with  twelve  leagues, 
O'Flaherty  with  twelve  leagues,  and  McDermot 
with  eight  leagues.  The  English  all  fled  from  the 
province  to  Dublin,  except  300  in  the  strong  towns 
of  Killaloe  and  Roscommon,  which  could  not  be 
attacked  as  the  Catholics  had  no  artillery.  O'Rourke, 
too,  had  killed  100  Englishmen  near  one  of  these 
towns,  and  had  approached  Dublin,  being  joined 
by  O'Ferrall  with  600  vassals  and  other  men  of 
Meath ;  whilst  O'More  had  risen  in  Leinster  and 
burnt  fourteen  heretic  towns  and  had  co-operated 
with  O'Rourke  from  Connaught. 

After  all  this  talk  of  victory  it  must  have  dis- 
appointed Philip  to  be  told,  as  he  was,  that  before 
the  messenger  left  a  two  months'  truce  had  been 
signed :  "in  the  hope  of  the  Spanish  succour 
arriving."    The  Catholics  still  had  in  the  field,  said 


IRISH    ENVOYS   TO    SPAIN  i8i 

the  priest,  two  armies  forty  leagues  apart :  one  under 
Tyrone,  with  16,000  foot  and  2000  horse,  within 
eight  leagues  of  Dublin,  and  the  other,  commanded 
by  O'Donnell  and  O'Rourke,  near  Galway,  with 
10,000  men/  When  the  truce  expires  they  intend 
to  follow  the  English  into  Munster,  where,  and  in 
Dublin,  all  those  who  have  been  left  alive  have 
taken  refuge.  The  "Englishwoman"  was  to  send 
20,000  men  to  Ireland  in  May,  but  if  his  Catholic 
Majesty  would  send  help,  the  Catholics  did  not  fear 
double  that  number.  In  conclusion  they  begged 
for  great-artillery,  muskets,  and  powder,  when  they 
doubted  not  to  have  the  whole  country  in  their 
power ;  and  above  all,  that  the  bishops,  priests,  and 
other  Irishmen  now  in  Spain  should  be  sent  home. 

This  flourishing  story,  with  its  disappointing  rider 
of  a  truce,  was  not  of  a  sort  to  move  Philip  without 
further  evidence,"  and  for  this  he  had  not  long  to 
wait.  Since  the  first  day  in  the  year  he  had  been 
fitting  out  in  Lisbon  a  little  expedition  of  three  or 
four  vessels,  with  several  trusty  officers  of  his  own 
on  board,  to  visit  the  Irish  chief,  carrying  with  them 
presents  in  money,  a  few  arms,  and  many  exhortations 
and  promises,  their  principal  object  being  to  examine 
closely  the  strength  of  the  rebels  and  the  military 

'  This,  as  will  be  seen,  was  an  absurd  exaggeration.  When  Philip's 
experienced  military  officers  reported  to  him  officially  as  to  the  armed 
force  which  each  of  the  Catholic  chiefs  could  raise,  tliey  found  that  the 
aggregate  number  was  less  than  6000  foot  and  iioo  horse. 

2  In  many  letters  from  Philip  that  have  passed  through  my  hands 
there  are  evidences  of  his  distrust  and  disbelief  in  priests  as  relators 
of  facts  or  as  organisers.  The  Irish  confessor  in  the  present  instance 
seems  to  have  drawn  very  largely  upon  his  imagination,  most  of  the 
victories  over  the  English,  the  sla\ighter,  &c.,  which  he  relates  being 
entirely  without  foundation. 


1 82  TREASON    AND   PLOT 

capabilities  of  the  country.  As  a  forerunner  to  this 
little  expedition  there  went  in  April  from  Santander 
to  Killibegs  a  swift  pinnace  carrying  Ensign  Alonso 
de  Cobos,  entrusted  with  letters  from  Philip  to  the 
Catholics  again  urging  them  to  stand  firm  and  to 
make  no  truce  with  the  enemy.  His  arrival  empty- 
handed  except  of  letters  and  promises,  after  Tyrone 
and  O'Donnell  had  signed  the  two  months'  truce,  was 
a  subject  for  considerable  embarrassment  for  the 
chiefs.  They  assured  Cobos,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
the  truce  was  only  a  feint,  and  on  the  other,  pro- 
tested to  Lord-Deputy  Kussell  and  General  Norreys 
that  they  had  sent  the  Spaniard  away  curtly,  "  as 
they  had  now  been  received  into  the  favour  of 
their  own  princess,  wherein  they  will  continue." 
With  the  Spaniard  they  made  the  best  of  the  matter, 
so  as  not  to  lose  the  long-promised  succour.  Cobos 
was  persuaded  to  give  them  a  sort  of  certificate  that, 
although  terms  satisfactory  to  them  had  been  offered 
by  the  English  for  a  permanent  peace,  they  had,  on 
his  arrival,  "  solely  on  conscientious  grounds  and  out 
of  affection  for  his  Majesty,  desisted  from  finally 
making  peace  .  .  .  and  now  sincerely  turned  their 
hearts  to  God  and  the  King,  in  whose  service  as 
faithful  vassals  they  will  remain  during  his  Majesty's 
pleasure."  Although  Philip's  famous  letter  sent  by 
Cobos  to  the  Earl  ^  was  forwarded  by  the  latter,  as  he 
said,  only  for  perusal  to  Norreys,  with  protestations  of 
his  refusal  of  all  Philip's  advances  and  his  loyalty  to 
the  Queen,  Cobos  carried  with  him  to  Spain  fervent 
letters  from  Tyrone,  O'Donnell,  Macguire,  McSuyne, 

^  A  copy  of  Philip's  letter  to  Tyrone  (of  which  copy  more  will  be 
heard)  is  in  the  Irish  Stale  Papers,  cxc.  6. 


CAPTAIN   COBOS   IN   IRELAND         183 

O'Rourke,  and  (most  violent  of  all)  from  Mc William 
Bourke  of  Mayo,  begging  for  aid  to  the  Catholics  and 
professing  unalterable  loyalty  to  Philip.^  They  re- 
quired, they  said,  6000  soldiers  and  arms  for  10,000 
more,  and  begged  that  the  Cardinal  Arcliduke 
Albert  might  be  appointed  their  sovereign  under 
the  protection  of  Spain. 

No  sooner  had  Cobos  sailed  homewards  than  the 
more  formal  expedition  from  Lisbon  arrived  in  Ire- 
land. The  two  captains  who  were  entrusted  with 
the  negotiations  appear  to  have  been  good  specimens 
of  their  class  and  time,  brave,  quarrelsome,  and 
jealous.  Cisneros,  who  was  the  senior,  began  by- 
giving  himself  the  airs  and  title  of  "  ambassador,"  ^ 
and  the  junior,  Medinilla,  who  was  to  remain  with 
the  Irish  chiefs  as  military  adviser,  became  jealous. 
Henceforward  the  two  captains  were  at  daggers 
drawn,  and,  as  I  suspect,  came  to  blows  before 
their  return  to  Spain.^  The  expedition  appears  at 
first  to  have  put  into  the  Bourke  country,  on  the 
coast  of  Mayo,  where  the  Spaniards  boasted  of 
the  great  things  that  their  king  would  do  for  the 
Catholics.  Money  they  had  in  plenty  to  distribute 
amongst  those  who  would  join  the  rebels ;  wine 
flowed  in  unwonted  streams  to  the  gallowglasses 
who  flocked  down  to  the  coast  to  see  the  outlandish 
strangers  ;  and  the  great  M  acWilliam  Bourke  himself 
— Marquis  of  Connaught  dubbed  now — who  sent  one 

1  These  letters  li;\ve  all  been  transcribed  from  the  ori.f;inals  at  Siniancas 
by  the  present  writer,  and  are  printed  in  the  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 
Almost  exactly  similar  letters  were  sent  Lack  by  the  next  expedition  in 
the  following  month. 

^  Irish  State  Papers,  .July  27,  1596  ;  Calendar,  p.  50. 

8  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv,  p.  625. 


1 84  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

hundred  beeves  for  the  refreshment  of  the  Spaniards, 
had  his  present  refused  except  on  condition  that  he 
would  receive  their  full  value  in  Spanish  gold. 

The  first  problem  was  to  persuade  the  chiefs  to 
meet  the  King  of  Spain's  "  ambassador."  The  most 
important  of  them,  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell,  were 
swearing  loyalty  to  their  own  sovereign,  and  the  Eng- 
lish were  watching  them  with  distrustful  eyes.  Mayo, 
under  Bingham's  iron  fist,  was  out  of  the  question 
as  a  meeting-place,  and  Bourke  proposed  that  the 
captains  should  accompany  him  by  land  to  summon 
the  chiefs  to  the  monastery  of  Donegal  for  the  con- 
ference. To  Cisneros  this  seemed  a  good  oppor- 
tunity for  observing  the  state  of  the  country  and 
the  strength  of  the  Catholics,  but  Medinilla  refused 
to  leave  the  ships,  which  apparently  then  went  round 
to  Teelin,  Sligo,  and  Killibegs.  It  was  not  easy  to 
persuade  the  rebel  chiefs  to  leave  their  retreats,  but 
the  King  of  Spain  was  a  dazzling  name  to  conjure 
with,  and  most  of  them  were  assembled  finally  at 
Donegal  to  receive  the  message  sent  by  Philip. 
The  Irish,  he  said,  originally  came  from  Spain,  and 
he,  the  King,  who  had  always  favoured  them,  would 
now  deliver  them  from  the  oppression  of  the  Eng- 
lish, for  which  purpose  he  would  join  his  forces  to 
theirs,  and  send  with  them  stores  and  money. 

The  spies  told  the  English  that  the  chiefs  raised 
objections.  The  Spaniards  were  far  off,  they  said, 
and  the  English  near  at  hand,  with  all  the  strong 
places  in  their  possession.  It  would  be  unwise  for 
the  Irish  to  risk  everything  by  refusing  the  fair 
terms  now  offered  to  them  by  the  Lord-Deputy, 
unless  they  were  quite   sure  that  the  King  would 


SPANISH   ENVOYS  TO    IRELAND       185 

keep  his  promise  to  them,  so  as  to  make  success 
certain.  Cisneros  replied  that  thousands  of  men 
should  be  sent,  and  went  far  beyond  his  instruc- 
tions in  the  promises  he  gave ;  ^  whereupon,  says 
the  English  account,  "all  the  rabble  of  the  Irishry 
gave  a  roll  of  the  names  of  the  lords,  as  they  call 
them,  who  would  depend  upon  the  King,  and  follow 
his  counsel ;  that  in  expectation  of  that  succour 
they  would  forbear  to  make  any  composition  till 
mid-August,  so  they  might  have  munition  to  efend 
themselves  in  the  meanwhile." 

The  letters  carried  back  to  the  King  by  the 
captains  are  worded  in  a  more  exalted  strain  than 
this,  and  repeat  the  professions  of  loyalty  and  at- 
tachment to  Philip  taken  a  few  weeks  before  by 
Cobos.  We  see  the  result  of  Tyrone's  prudence, 
however,  in  his  refusal  to  allow  Medinilla  to  remain 
with  him  in  order  that  he  might  be  able  to  say, 
as  he  did,  that  he  had  refused  to  enter  into  any 
negotiations  against  his  allegiance  to  the  Queen.' 
After  an  exciting  fight  with  an  English  ship  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Tagus,  the  captains  arrived  in 
Lisbon,  bringing  with  them  a  curious  account  of 
the  state  of  the  rebel  forces  in  Ireland  in  the  form 
of  answers  to  eighteen  exhaustive  questions,  such 
as  Philip  loved.  What  did  they  (the  chiefs)  want  ? 
was    the    first    question,    and,    as    usual,    the    King 

^  The  English  account  of  the  meeting  is  in  the  Irish  Calendar,  July 
26,  1596,  and  the  Spanish  reports,  with  a  copy  of  Cisneros'  instruc- 
tions, in  the  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  p.  620. 

^  The  Spaniards  were  at  this  time  very  distrustful  of  'Tyrone's 
trimming,  as  will  be  seen  later  ;  and  an  English  olficer  was  told  (7th 
June)  by  Shan  O'Brian  that  the  Spaniards  threatened  to  banish  Tyrone 
with  his  friends  the  English  if  he  did  not  join  their  forces  when  they 
(the  Spaniards)  landed  in  Ireland. 


1 86  TREASON  AND   PLOT 

required  to  know  the  irreducible  minimum.  The 
captain  was  to  suggest  "prudence  and  due  con- 
sideration "  in  their  demands,  and  was  to  "  hint 
softly  at  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  to  see  how  they 
meet  them,  but  do  not  push  this  far  enough  to 
cause  distrust."  But  with  all  the  minimising  of 
the  Spaniards,  the  chiefs  asked  for  arms  for  10,000 
footmen,  corselets,  pikes,  morrions,  harquebuses, 
muskets,  powder,  ball,  &c.,  and  1000  men  at  once, 
to  be  sent  with  these  munitions  pending  the  coming 
of  a  large  Spanish  force.  Cisneros  reported  favour- 
ably upon  the  unity  of  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell, 
"whom  the  rest  respect;"  and  he  praises  their 
firm  Catholicism.  But  the  vast  armies  spoken  of 
by  O'Donnell's  confessor  as  being  in  the  field  shrink 
woefully  in  the  report  of  the  experienced  soldier. 
The  chiefs  could  raise,  it  appeared,  6000  foot  and 
1200  horse;  and  when  they  took  the  field  they 
carried  provisions  with  them  sufficient  for  the  time 
they  intended  to  be  absent  from  home.  No  artil- 
lery, moreover,  could  be  landed  at  any  of  their  ports 
or  be  sent  inland,  in  consequence  of  the  boggy 
nature  of  the  soil,  and  the  provisions  available  were 
only  sufficient  for  the  native  Irish.  In  another 
report,  given  by  the  ensigns  who  accompanied  the 
expedition,  full  particulars  are  given  of  the  number 
of  men  to  be  raised  by  each  chief,  and  the  state  of 
the  strong  towns  in  the  hands  of  the  English.^ 

'  Tlie  following  paragraphs  in  the  report  of  the  ensigns  is  curious. 
After  summing  up  the  total  number  of  the  rebel  Lords'  forces  (5900 
foot  and  1080  horse),  the  report  continues  : — "The  men  are  now  spread 
about  the  territories  of  their  Lords,  and  have  darts,  bows  and  arrows, 
shields  like  ours,  and  others  like  Hungarian  bucklers.  They  have  no 
muskets  and  few  hanjuebuses.     Their  food  is  butter  and  milk  ;  but  even 


PHILIP   AND   THE   IRISH  187 

Whilst  these  minute  details  were  being  discussed 
and  weighed  laboriously  by  Philip  at  the  Escorial, 
news  came  from  England  through  Flanders  and 
France,  at  first  vague  and  then  with  increasing 
definiteness,  which  struck  the  Spaniards  with  terror. 
AVhen  Drake  had  finally  sailed  away  in  the  previous 
autumn,  the  way  seemed  clear  for,  at  least,  some 
show  of  force  being  sent  to  Ireland,  although  there 
was  never  any  chance  in  that  year  (1596)  of  any 
great  expedition,  such  as  the  English  feared/  But 
in  the  fight  off  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus  between  the 
ship  with  Cisneros  on  board  and  the  English  vessel, 
two  boats'  crews  of  the  latter  had  got  adrift  and 
were  captured  by  the  Spaniards.     When  they  were 

this  is  not  to  be  bought,  as  such  is  not  their  custom  ;  and  if  people  go 
from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  they  receive  butter  and  milk 
for  their  sustenance  from  the  natives  of  the  country  they  go  to.  The 
people  are  all  Catholics,  and  they  show  signs  of  being  able  to  handle 
weapons  well.  They  i^eenl  a  well-disposed  sort  of  people.  It  is  im- 
jwssible  to  travel  on  the  land,  as  you  sink  up  to  the  knees,  but  it  is  all 
land  that  may  be  cultivated.  In  the  forty  leagues  we  have  travelled 
{i.e.  from  Mayo  to  Donegal)  we  have  not  seen  a  single  tree,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  transport  artillery.''  It  may  be  added  that  these  reports, 
which  were  evidently  written  by  men  more  accustomed  to  wield  pikes 
than  pens,  are  excessively  illiterate,  and  in  places  almost  unintelligible. 
(Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar.) 

1  The  reports  of  the  Venetian  ambassador  in  Madrid  to  the  Doge 
throughout  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1595  give  details  of  the  naval 
jireparations  in  Spain.  In  October  he  says  that  thirty  ships  are  ready, 
some  say  for  Brittany  or  Ireland,  but  most  likely  to  go  after  Drake  in 
South  America.  On  November  17  he  writes  that  the  shipyards  in 
Biscay  and  Andalusia  are  Vnisy  building  new  ships.  "It  is  certain 
that  his  Majesty  intends  to  have  on  the  ocean  next  year  a  larger  fleet 
than  at  any  previous  time,  except  in  15S8  ...  If  it  does  nothing 
else,  this  preparation,  by  keeping  the  Queen  of  England  in  alarm,  wiU 
compel  her  to  think  of  her  own  defences  rather  than  ...  of  molest- 
ing others."  "  There  are  thirty  armed  transports  in  Lisbon  and  Seville 
to  be  sent  to  hold  Drake  in  check."  This  squadron  of  twenty-live  ships 
sailed  from  Lisbon  on  the  2nd  .January  1596. 


1 88  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

questioned  by  Count  Portalegre  in  Lisbon,  the 
English  sailors  confessed  that  the  Queen's  fleet 
of  lOO  ships  was  assembled  when  they  had  left 
London  two  months  previously,  but  they  knew  not 
its  destination.  Philip  had  later  news  than  this, 
and  he  also  had  heard  of  the  gathering  of  a  great 
fleet  in  England,  evidently  destined  to  do  him 
injury,  though  at  what  point  he  could  not  guess. 
His  naval  advisers  soothed  him  with  the  idea  that 
it  was  already  too  late  in  the  season  for  the  English 
to  come  to  Spain '  that  year ;  but  Count  Portalegre, 
when  he  sent  to  the  King  the  intelligence  he  had 
gathered  from  the  English  prisoners,  not  only  ex- 
pressed his  fears  that  the  Spanish  expedition  could 
not  be  safely  sent  to  Ireland  that  year,  notwithstand- 
ing the  vehement  pledges  given  to  Tyrone,  but  he 
conveys  his  apprehension  of  something  worse. 

"We  are  now  at  the  loth  June,  and  it  is  getting 
late  in  the  season,  considering  how  early  the  English 
came  in  the  year  '89 ;  and  I  do  not  see  much  sign  of 
apprehension  of  that  which  I  am  very  anxious  about, 
more  anxious  than  ever  I  was  in  my  life  about  any- 
thing. Notwithstanding  reasons  of  State  and  pru- 
dence, that  persuade  others  that  it  is  impossible  that 
the  English  fleet  should  come  to  the  coast  of  Spain, 
I  have  convinced  myself  that  it  is  extremely  proba- 
ble that  it  may  come  to  prevent  the  final  union  of 
your  Majesty's  fleet  by  cruising  about  the  route,  and 
burning  whatever  it  may  find  unprotected  between 
Viana  and  Lisbon.  As  for  this  bar  (i.e.  Lisbon), 
they  could  act  according  to  the  intelligence  they 
received  of  the  city  and  ships,  and  of  the  flotillas 
which  are   expected   from   all  parts.      And  even  if 


ALARM   IN   SPAIN  189 

your  Majesty's  fleet  succeed  in  assembling,  they 
might  embarrass  it  greatly,  and  this,  perhaps,  might 
satisfy  them  for  this  summer.  It  might  be  all 
frustrated  if  what  your  Majesty  promised  should  be 
provided  could  arrive  here :  but  before  it  can  arrive, 
the  cause  for  alarm  will  have  passed."  ^ 

This  letter  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  utter  paraly- 
sis which  fell  upon  the  Spaniards  in  the  face  of 
English  naval  movements,  and  of  the  disastrous 
effects  of  Philip's  slow  methods.  Long  before  he 
had  discussed  and  considered  the  infinite  pros  and 
cons  of  the  requisites  demanded,  much  less  before 
lie  could  laboriously  furnish  the  resources  necessary, 
either  for  attack  or  defence,  his  opponents  had 
anticipated  him,  and  his  action  and  expenditure 
were  wasted.  This  is  exactly  what  happened  in  the 
summer  of  1596.  Whilst  his  officers  were  reporting 
and  inquiring  in  Ireland,  whilst  the  priests  and 
others  were  sending  false  assurances  to  the  Irish 
chiefs  that  the  long-delayed  support  should  at  once 
be  sent  from  Spain,  Philip's  officers,  trammelled  by 
his  blighting  centralising  system,  were  slowly, 
and  with  ill  success,  endeavouring  to  collect  in 
half-a-dozen  different  ports  the  vessels   and   stores 

^  The  Venetian  ambassador  in  Madrid  wrote  to  the  Doge,  June  ii, 
saying  that  Count  Portalegre  had  reported  the  great  alarm  caused  in 
Lishon  by  the  Englisli  naval  preparations.  "A  sharp  answer  was 
returned  from  here  that  the  governor  had  exaggerated  the  alarm  ;  for 
the  conquest  of  Calais,  the  death  of  Drake,  and  the  dispersion  of  his 
Heet,  would  undoubtedly  cause  the  Queen  to  change  her  plans  ;  and 
that  it  was  his  ( Portal cgre's)  duty  to  keep  up  the  courage  of  the  popu- 
lation, rather  than  by  lending  them  his  ear,  to  frighten  them  more  at 
mere  shadows"  (Venetian  Calendar).  The  letter  from  Portalegre, 
which  I  have  quoted  in  the  text,  was  evidently  the  reply  to  this 
reproof. 


190  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

necessary  to  form  an  auxiliary  expedition.^  Before 
one  part  of  the  munitions  could  be  got  ready,  the 
part  already  collected  went  rotten  :  men  deserted  as 
fast  as  they  were  levied,  for  they  were  no  longer 
buoyed  up  by  the  idea  of  their  invulnerability  against 
the  heretics  or  of  the  invincible  sacredness  of  their 
cause.  In  plain  truth,  they  were  afraid  of  the 
English.  In  all  ranks  disillusion  and  demoralisa- 
tion were  becoming  general.  The  King  was  a  mere 
name  now,  seen  by  no  one,  and  already  sick  to 
death.  He  had  with  forty  years  of  ceaseless  toil 
woven  around  himself  and  his  people  the  endless 
spider's  web  of  despotism  ;  filaments  that  had  grown 
into  cables  centred  in  the  paper-choked  closet  of  a 
gloomy  recluse,  stifling  all  initiative,  restricting  all 
activity,  and  dooming  the  nation  to  atrophy  and 
decay. 

The  alarming  and  exaggerated  news  of  Spanish 
preparations,  and  the  efforts  of  the  French  and  of 
Essex's  party  in  England,^  had   at  length  brought 

1  The  Venetian  ambassador  in  Spain  wrote  on  I5tli  January  that 
loo  new  vessels  were  being  built  in  Biscay,  Galicia,  Lisbon,  and 
Seville  ;  but  he  doubted  whether  the  result  would  correspond  with  the 
effort,  "for  the  first  flush  of  preparations  in  Spain  usually  promises 
much  more  than  is  eventually  accomplished."  In  February  he  reported 
that  the  King  of  Spain  had  abandoned  his  scheme  for  an  attack  upon 
England,  since  the  Queen  has  now  settled  her  Irish  and  English 
affairs.  "  He  is  well  aware  that  neither  in  Corunna  nor  in  Flanders 
are  there  sufficient  troops  to  harass  the  English,  even  if  they  could 
effect  a  landing."  In  April  the  same  ambassador  wrote  that  the 
"preparations  for  a  fleet  are  not  being  pushed  on  as  fast  as  they  might 
be,  or  would  be,  if  there  was  any  idea  of  using  a  fleet  at  once." 

2  Sir  Francis  Vere,  the  English  commander  in  Flanders,  who  was  an 
"  Essex  "  man,  wrote  to  the  Earl  on  the  9th  March.  "  You  were  pleased 
to  acquaint  me  with  a  purpose  you  had  to  draw  her  Majesty,  the 
French  King,  and  the  States  into  a  firm  league.  .  .  .  There  is  no  so 
ready  way  in  the  world  to  terrify  and  ruin  the  great  adversary."     At  the 


CHANGE   OF   ENGLISH    POLICY       191 

Elizabeth  to  consent  to  an  aggressive  policy.  Vere 
was  authorised  to  obtain  the  aid  of  a  naval  con- 
tingent from  the  States,  and  once  more  Plymouth 
and  the  Thames  were  alive  with  the  fitting  out  of 
a  great  fleet.  Henry  IV.  having  to  a  great  extent 
conciliated  the  Leaguers,  had  declared  a  national 
war  upon  Spain,  and  was  now  at  close  grip  with 
the  enemy.  He  had  strained  his  own  resources 
to  the  utmost,  and  in  vain  both  he  and  his  ally 
Essex  had  sought,  by  cajolery  and  threats,  to  obtain 
more  eflective  assistance  from  England,  especially 
on  the  coast  of  Picardy,  where  English  interests 
were  closely  touched.  Philip,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  will  be  recollected,  had  been  fortunate  in  the 
arrival  of  his  treasure  fleet,  thanks  to  the  delay  in 
the  departure  of  Drake  in  the  summer  of  1595,  and 
had  also  contracted  a  large  new  loan  with  the 
Fuggers  ;  and  much  of  the  money  had  been  spent 
in  providing  for  the  new  Governor  of  Flanders,  the 
Archduke  Albert,  a  powerful  army,  with  which,  as 
it  was  thought,  to  relieve  La  Fere  from  its  pro- 
tracted siege  by  Henry's  forces. 

When  a  few  weeks  earlier  Sir  Henry  Linton  had 
given  Henry  Elizabeth's  message,  asking  for  Calais 
as  a  pledge  for  her  further  help,  the  great  Bearnais 
replied  in  a  rage  that  he  had  as  lief  be  bitten  by  a 


same  time  (March  1596)  Elizabeth  and  Burghley  were  made  to  believe 
by  forged  letters  that  Spain  was  making  approaches  to  Henry  IV. 
She  sent  young  Palavicini  to  France  to  inquire  secretly  if  this  was 
true.  His  informant  in  J'lvance  was  one  of  the  Essex-Lojiez  gang,  who 
told  him,  in  reply  to  his  questions,  "  that  it  was  true  that  the  Spaniard 
was  trying  to  come  to  terms,  but  that  Henry  was  little  inclined  to  do 
so  unless  he  were  driven  by  force.  The  real  way  to  keep  him  (Henry) 
was  to  assist  him  vigorously"  (Venetian  Calendar). 


192  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

dog  as  be  scratched  by  a  cat,  and  would  prefer  the 
Spaniards  in  Calais  to  the  English.  He  spoke  more 
truly  than  he  thought  at  the  time,  for  the  relief  of 
La  Fere  was  only  a  feint ;  and  early  in  April  the 
King  learnt  to  his  dismay  that  the  Spaniards  had 
suddenly  turned  aside,  marched  upon  Calais,  and 
had  already  stormed  the  outworks  of  the  town. 
This  was  threatening  news  indeed  for  England. 
Whilst  Elizabeth  was  haggling,  the  Spaniards  had 
captured  a  port  which  commanded  her  narrow  seas, 
and  the  Spanish  array  in  Flanders  was  in  sight  of 
her  own  shores.  As  soon  as  the  news  came  to 
England  of  Calais's  danger,  a  hasty  levy  of  men  was 
made  in  London  and  hurried  to  Dover  for  embarka- 
tion under  Essex  ;  for  the  citadel  of  Calais  still  held 
out,  and  relief  was  possible.  No  sooner  were  the 
men  on  board,  and  the  young  Earl  burning  to  bring 
them  into  action,  than  a  courier  galloped  in  from 
the  Queen  counter-ordering  the  expedition.  Essex 
was  frantic,  but  raved  and  prayed  in  vain.  Almost 
within  his  sight  the  next  day,  14th  April,  the  citadel 
of  Calais  fell ;  and  Elizabeth  found  that  she  had 
overreached  herself.  Henry  made  the  most  of  it, 
and  sent  a  special  embassy  to  remonstrate  with  her 
upon  the  effect  produced  by  her  avaricious  demand 
for  Calais  in  return  for  her  aid ;  and  she  was, 
though  greatly  to  her  dislike,  obliged  to  make  a 
new  treaty  with  France,  by  which  her  contingent 
was  to  be  increased,  and  Henry  was  bound  never 
to  make  peace  with  Spain  without  the  consent  of 
England — a  provision  which  he  broke  as  soon  as  it 
suited  him. 

This  untoward  capture  of  Calais  by  the  Spaniards 


ESSEX   AND   SPAIN  193 

made  it  more  necessary  than  ever  now  that  the 
power  of  Spain  should  again  be  broken  at  sea ;  and 
the  policy  which  Hawkins,  Drake,  and  Ralegh  had 
always  advocated,  of  attack  at  sea  rather  than 
defence  on  shore,  was  forced  by  circumstances  upon 
Elizabeth  and  Burghley,  though  they  faced  it  with 
much  hesitancy  and  fickleness.  We  have  seen  in 
Count  Portalegre's  letter  to  Philip  early  in  June 
tlie  alarm  which  the  English  preparations  caused  in 
Spain.  The  slow  and  ineffective  fitting  out  of  small 
squadrons  in  different  ports,  Ferrol,  Corunna,  San- 
tander,  Lisbon,  and  Cadiz,  in  order  that  they  might 
ultimately  form  a  junction,  was  rendered  necessary 
by  the  paucity  of  supplies  and  the  difficulties  of 
transporting  great  quantities  of  stores  to  one  centre, 
but  it  always  exposed  Philip's  fleets  to  be  destroyed 
piecemeal,  either  in  their  ports,  or  on  their  way  to 
the  rendezvous  ;  and  this  was  a  danger  against  which 
it  was  difficult  for  the  Spaniards  to  provide,  as  they 
had  not  sufficient  force  to  protect  adequately  all 
threatened  points,  and  rapid  concentration  was 
impossible.  This  was  well  known  to  English  sea- 
men, and  they  had  constantly  urged  the  Queen  to 
strike  at  the  strength  of  her  enemy  in  what  they 
saw  was  the  most  effectual  way.  But  her  lifelong 
policy  was  to  take  a  middle  course  and  hold  the 
balance  whilst  extremists  fought ;  and  no  sooner 
had  Essex  persuaded  her  to  authorise  an  offensive 
expedition  against  Spain  than  she  altered  her  mind. 
Through  February,  March,  and  April  of  1596,  whilst 
the  Irish  chiefs  were  praying  Philip  for  immediate 
aid,  and  Spanish  emissaries  were  flitting  backwards 
and  forwards  to   Donegal,   the  hot  fit  followed  the 

N 


194  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

cold    with    maddening    alternation    in    Elizabeth's 
counsels.     She  was  willing  to   cripple  her  foe,  but 
she  let  "I  dare  not,  wait  upon  I  would;"  for,  she 
argued  :  Suppose  my  fleet  should  miss  the  Spaniards, 
or  any  large  portion   of  them,  what  would  become 
of  me  and  my  realm,  what  would  become  of  Pro- 
testantism, if  another  Armada  should  approach  whilst 
my  own  ships  were  far  away  on  the  coast  of  Spain  ? 
Essex    in    his   rage    sometimes    forgot    the    respect 
due   to   his   sovereign  lady,   and   this   gave    rise    to 
fresh    wrangles    and    subsequent    self-abasement    of 
the  spoilt,  ill-disciplined  favourite.     "The  Queen," 
wrote  one  of  Essex's  secretaries  to  Antony  Bacon, ^ 
"  is   daily  in    change   of   humour  about  my  Lord's 
voyage,   and   yesterday   almost  resolute    to    stay  it, 
using    very    hard    terms    of    my   Lord's    wilfulness, 
inasmuch  as  the  wisest  was  fain  to  use  his  wisest 
reasons   to    appease    and    satisfy   her;"    and    Essex 
himself,   almost   in    despair,   said,    "I    have  racked 
my  wits  to  get  this  commission,  and  my  means  .   .  . 
to  carry  it  through,  as  they  say.     I  will  either  go 
through  with  it  now,  or  become  a  monk  at  an  hour's 


warning."  ^ 


It  ended  by  the  Queen's  allowing  the  expedition 
to  be  prepared,  whilst  she  bound  the  commanders 
on  all  sides  with  limitations  and  restrictions.  To 
curb  the  impetuosity  of  Essex  and  temper  his  want 
of  naval  experience,  she  associated  with  him  in  the 
command  the  cold,  elderly  Lord  Admiral  Howard, 
at    which    arrangement    both    of    them    impotently 

^  Reynolds  to  Bacon,  Bacon  MSS.,  Lambetli  Palace,  vol.  Dclvii. 
2  Ibid. 


THE   ATTACK    ON   CADIZ  195 

fumed  and  chafed ;  ^  and  she  strictly  laid  down  that 
the  objects  to  be  aimed  at  were  "  the  taking  and 
destruction  of  the  King  of  Spain's  ships  and  maga- 
zines, and  the  intercepting  of  the  East  Indian 
carracks  and  the  fleet  from  the  West  Indies," 
When  her  instructions  were  asked  for  in  the  case 
of  any  ''rich  town"  being  captured,  the  Queen  was 
quite  scandalised  at  the  suggestion  of  such  a  thing. 
The  object  was  not  conquest,  but  to  strike  a  blow  at 
Philip's  navy,  which  should  etfectually  prevent  him 
from  sending  powerful  aid  to  Ireland,  or  threatening 
Protestant  England  with  another  Catholic  Armada. 

When,  at  length,  the  four  squadrons  were  assem- 
bled at  Plymouth,  not  without  much  delay  on  the 
part  of  the  Thames  contingent,"'  Essex  and  Howard 
found  themselves  in  command  of  a  fleet  consisting 
of  seventeen  Queen's  ships,  seventy-six  freighted 
armed  merchantmen,  mostly  used  for  transport,  and 

^  A  very  characteristic  letter  on  this  point  was  written  by  Essex  to 
Cecil  on  the  24th  May,  on  the  eve  of  his  sailing.  He  and  Howard  had 
written  a  joint  letter  of  farewell  to  the  Queen,  and  he  wrote  : — "Sir, 
if  her  Majesty  do  Hnd  fault  with  the  cutting  out  of  a  piece  of  the 
sheet  wherein  our  joint  letter  is  written,  her  unruly  admiral  (i.e. 
Howard,  who  being  a  baron,  was  ol)liged  to  sign  his  name  after  Essex, 
who  was  an  eari)  must  be  punished,  who  cut  out  my  name,  because  he 
would  ha\e  none  so  high  as  himself.  We  are  nuw  abroad,  and  do  see 
all  men  bestir  tht-mselves  to  leave  the  shore.  Here  is  such  joy  in  all 
the  fleet,  both  of  soldiers  and  miuiners,  English  and  Dutch,  as  it  would 
please  her  Majesty  to  ste  the  efl"ects  of  her  own  work"  (Hatfield 
Papers,  vol.  iv.). 

'^  This  was  specially  under  Ralegh's  organisation,  and  Essex's  friends 
threw  upon  Ralegh  the  whole  blame  of  the  delay.  It  was  not  his 
fault,  however  ;  the  service  was  most  unpopular,  and  especially  in  and 
about  London  ;  and  "as  soon  as  we  press  men  one  day  tney  run  away 
another,  and  say  they  will  not  serve."  See  the  writer's  "Life  of  Sir 
Walter  Ralegh,"  So  general  was  the  d  saffection  in  the  tleet  that 
Essex  wa~  forced  to  hang  several  of  the  soldiers  on  Plymouth  Hoe  just 
before  sailing  ("  Voyage  to  Cadiz,"  Hakluyt). 


196  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

a  Dutch  squadron  of  twenty-four  vessels,  besides 
pinnaces  and  small  craft.  This  fleet,  with  9000 
soldiers  on  board,  sailed  out  of  Plymouth  Sound  on 
the  3rd  June  1596;  and  so  well  had  the  secret  of 
its  destination  been  kept,  that,  as  we  have  seen,  at  a 
similar  date  (xxth  June)  Count  Portalegre  placed  it 
on  record  that  he  alone  of  the  Spanish  officers 
feared  the  coming  of  the  English  at  all  that  year. 
Even  those  who  at  an  earlier  date  had  looked  for 
the  possible  sailing  of  an  English  squadron  had 
feared  rather  that  it  might  attack  the  ships  in  Ferrol 
or  the  Tagus  than  repeat  Drake's  famous  swoop 
upon  Cadiz  in  1587,  so  that  when,  on  the  morning 
of  the  20th  June,  the  great  combined  fleet  of 
English  and  Dutch  ships  anchored  off  Cadiz,  panic 
supreme  and  uncontrolled  seized  upon  the  city. 

Under  the  shelter  of  the  sea-wall  there  lay 
defending  the  entrance  to  the  harbour  seventeen 
of  Philip's  finest  galleys,  and  inside  the  port  there 
were  six  mighty  galleons,  three  of  the  famous 
treasure  frigates,  two  strong  argosies,  the  three 
flagships  of  the  Mexican  fleet,  and  forty  great 
Indiamen  loading  for  the  outward  voyage.  The 
first  decision  arrived  at  by  the  English  joint  com- 
manders was  in  the  highest  degree  unwise  and 
dangerous.  Their  prime  object  in  sailing  was,  at 
any  cost,  to  cripple  Spain's  navy.  Here  they  had 
before  them  huddled  in  the  bay,  unable  to  escape, 
the  finest  vessels  that  flew  the  flag  of  Castile  and 
Aragon  ;  and  Howard  and  Essex  conceived  the 
idea,  before  attacking  the  ships,  of  lauding  their 
soldiers  and  assaulting  the  town.  Ralegli,  v/ho  had 
command   of  one   of  the   squadrons,  returned  from 


THE    ATTACK    ON    CADIZ  197 

special  service  ou  the  other  side  of  the  bay  just 
as  the  troops  were  beiug  disembarked.  Iliirryiiig 
on  board  the  flagship,  he  besought  Essex  to  push 
iuto  the  harbour  and  destroy  the  shipping  before 
anything  else  was  attempted,  for  if  the  attack  upon 
the  town  failed  the  whole  force  would  be  imperilled. 
Essex  threw  the  blame  upon  Howard,  whose  plan  it 
probably  was  ;  but  at  length  the  eloquence  of  Ralegh 
prevailed  over  both  and  the  plan  was  altered. 

Thenceforward  the  only  rivalry  amongst  the 
English  commanders  was  as  to  who  should  lead  his 
ship  into  the  harbour  first.  The  final  choice  fell 
upon  Ralegh,  and  at  first  break  of  dawn  on  the 
2 1st  June,  Sir  Walter,  on  the  Warsprite,  pushed 
past  the  galleys  that  blocked  the  way,  and,  deriding 
them  as  he  passed  with  a  fanfare  from  his  ship's 
trumpets,  he  struck,  straight  as  a  hawk  at  its  quarry, 
at  the  two  greatest  ships  of  the  Spanish  navy,  the 
San  Felipe  and  the  Sari  Andres ;  for  on  one  bloody, 
never-to-be-forgotten  day  five  years  before,  those  two 
giants  had  done  to  death  his  dear  friend  and  kins- 
man. Sir  Richard  Grenville  on  the  Revenge,  and 
Ralegh  had  sworn  never  to  loose  them  till  their 
stout  hulls  were  worried  to  future  inofiensiveness. 

Of  the  details  of  the  great  fight  this  is  not  the 
place  to  tell.^  How  Essex,  Ralegh,  Lord  Thomas 
Howard,  and  Francis  Vere  competed  with  each 
other  in  their  lust  for  destruction  ;  how  red  ruin  fell 
upon  the  towering  San  Felipe,  the  San  Andres,  the 

1  See  "The  Voyage  to  Cadiz"  in  Hakluyt;  Kalegh's  own  account, 
"Relation  of  the  Cadiz  Action;"  Fernandez  Duro's  "  Ai  inada  Es- 
panola  ; "  the  present  writer's  "  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,"  and 
Devereux's  "  Earls  of  Essex." 


198  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

Santo  Tomas,  and  the  San  Mateo  and  all  the  galleys; 
how,  in  despair,  the  wretched  Spaniards,  to  escape 
the  fire,  drowned  themselves  by  hundreds,  until,  as 
Ralegh  wrote,  "If  any  man  had  a  desire  to  see  hell 
itself,  it  was  there  most  lively  figured  ; "  how  the 
forty  splendid  Indiamen  and  their  precious  freights 
all  fled  to  the  inner  harbour  at  Puerto  Real  and 
were  burnt  by  the  Spaniards  ;  and  how,  finally,  Cadiz 
itself,  the  "  pearl  of  Andalusia,"  the  richest  city  in 
Spain,  was  conquered  almost  without  a  blow,  to  be 
submitted  to  sixteen  days  of  systematic  plunder, 
which  left  her  naked,  ravaged,  and  destroyed — all 
this  is  told  in  sounding  Elizabethan  prose  by  Ralegh 
himself,  and  has  been  repeated  in  stirring  story  by  a 
hundred  pens.  Our  concern  in  this  book  is  mainly 
to  consider  the  efiect  of  the  ruin  of  Cadiz  upon 
Philip's  power  to  force  Catholicism  directly  or  in- 
directly upon  England. 

During  the  three  hours'  fight,  in  which  only  eight 
English  ships  took  active  part,  Spain  lost  thirteen 
ships  of  war  and  seventeen  galleys,  besides  the  forty 
great  merchantmen,  and  merchandise  worth  eleven 
million  ducats.  What  the  loot  of  Cadiz  city 
amounted  to  no  one  rightly  knew ;  but  great  as 
was  the  material  loss  suffered  by  Spain,  the  loss 
of  prestige  was  infinitely  greater.  The  wretched 
Medina-Sidonia  could  only  look  on  at  the  destruc- 
tion afar  off,  wringing  his  hands  and  weeping.  He 
had  long  ago  pointed  out  to  the  King  the  utterly 
defenceless  state  of  the  city  against  a  sudden  attack.^ 

*  On  the  day  after  the  disaster  Medina-Sidonia  wrote  to  the  King 
thus  :  "  This  is  shameful !  I  said  how  necessary  it  was  to  send  me  men 
and  money,  and  I  have  never  received  even  an  answer  from  your  Majesty. 


EFFECT   OF   THE   CADIZ   ACTION     199 

Like  all  other  representations  of  ii  like  nature  to 
Philip,  it  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  infinite  pro- 
crastination, consideration,  and  inquiry,  often  to  be 
shelved  and  forgotten.  Philip's  resources,  great  as 
they  were,  were  a  mere  drop  in  the  ocean  of  his 
requirements.  With  such  a  system  as  his,  where 
one  sick  old  man,^  writing  and  reading  day  and 
night,  tried  to  sway  the  universe  with  his  pen, 
waste  and  inefficiency  were  inevitable,  and  this 
terrible  blow  of  Cadiz  was  the  natural  result.  The 
disaster  was  even  greater  in  a  moral  sense  than  the 
loss  of  the  Armada,  because  it  proved  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  superstitious  people,  either  that  the 
Lord  was  fighting  on  the  side  of  the  heretic,  or  that 
the  powers  of  darkness  were  stronger  than  the  powers 
of  light. 

But  whilst  the  Spaniards  at  large,  with  Oriental 
fatalism,  were  resigning  themselves  to  the  inevitable, 
and  the  English  were  bickering  over  their  loot  in 
the  intervals  of  self-glorification,  the  slow,  crippled, 
white-haired,  little  man  in  his  cell  at  the  Escorial 
had  learned  nothing  from  defeat  and  failure.  He 
was,  he  thought,  on  the  side  of  God,  and  if  the 
Most  High  for  His  good  pleasure  ordained  that 
temporary  disaster  should  fall  upon  His  legions,  it 
was  only  that  the  final  victory  should  be  the  greater, 
and  that  His  servants  should  be  purified  by  trial  for 
the  ultimate  glory  that  would  surely  come  to  them. 

So  now  I  am  at  my  wits'  end,  and  can  only  stand  and  await  your 
Majesty's  orders." 

'  Philip  was  chronically  ill  of  gout  with  compliciitionp  at  this  time. 
In  April  and  May  of  this  year,  1596,  he  was  thought  to  he  dying  and 
all  hope  was  abandoned  by  his  physicians.  See  the  details  in  Kani's 
Letters,  Venetian  Calendar. 


200  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

There  was  no  defeat  but  death  for  such  a  man  as 
this,  and  the  day  after  he  learnt  of  the  catastrophe 
of  Cadiz  saw  him  calmly  plodding  and  planning  the 
new  preparations  that  should  carry  aid  to  insurgent 
Ireland,  and  in  good  time  make  England  Catholic 
again,  a  fit  ally  for  faithful  Spain. 


CHAPTER    VII 

Mission  of  Lindsay  to  Rome — Father  John  Cecil  and  Pury  Ogilvie  in 
Rome — Their  voyage  to  Spain — Address  of  the  English  Catholic 
irreconcilables  to  Philip — The  advice  of  Father  Persons — Pre- 
parations in  Lisbon  for  the  Irish  expedition — Strength  of  the 
armament — Failure  and  return  to  Spain — Meeting  of  the  Irish 
chiefs  with  Cobos  in  the  Monastery  of  Donegal — A  new  truce  with 
Tyrone. 

At  the  end  of  chapter  iii.  we  left  Walter  Lindsay, 
Lord  Balgarys,  the  Laird  of  Ladyland,  Father  Cecil, 
and  Matthew  Semple,  fruitlessly  praying  the  King 
of  Spain  to  send  assistance  to  the  Scottish  Catholic 
nobles,  the  leaders  of  whom  were  already  in  exile. 
This  was  in  the  autumn  of  1595,  and  the  reason 
for  Philip's  bland  irresponsiveness  to  their  cry  is 
obvious  to  any  one  who  notes  the  tone  of  their 
petitions.  When  the  resources  of  delay  had  been 
exhausted,  and  the  Scottish  emissaries  intimated 
that  their  patience  was  at  an  end,  Philip  adopted 
his  invariable  course  in  such  cases,  and  politely  in- 
formed them  that,  as  the  objects  of  the  Scottish 
nobles  were  exclusively  directed  to  the  advancement 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  the  Pope  was  the  person  first 
to  be  applied  to.  The  King  would  recommend 
them  to  his  ambassador  in  Rome,  the  Duke  of 
Sessa,  who  would  forward  their  suit  with  his  Holi- 
ness, and  when  the  Pope  had  decided  how  much 
money  he  would  contribute,  he  (Philip)  would  con- 
sider how  and  to  what  extent  he  could  help  them. 


202  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

The  emissaries  did  not  know  it,  but  this  course  of 
procedure  made  it  absolutely  certain  that  Philip 
had  no  intention  of  making  the  Scottish  Catholics 
his  principal  instruments  for  gaining  England ;  but 
they  took  his  message  in  all  sincerity,  and,  late  in 
the  year,  Balgarys,  Ladyland,  Hugh  Barclay,  and 
Father  Cecil  sailed  separately  from  Barcelona  for 
Italy,  the  priest  being  entrusted  with  the  principal 
part  of  the  negotiation. 

They  must  have  arrived  early  in  December  in 
Rome,  but  as  Father  Cecil  was  ill,  he  did  not  pre- 
sent Philip's  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Sessa  until  the 
3rd  January  1596.  Although  the  ambassador  had 
not  at  that  time  received  any  explanatory  despatches 
from  Madrid,  he  knew  his  master's  mind  well  enough 
to  understand  what  was  required  of  him.  He,  too, 
was  full  of  sympathy  for  the  Scottish  Catholics,  who 
were  so  anxious  to  benefit  their  religion  exclusively, 
but  it  took  six  weeks  for  him  to  obtain  for  Father 
Cecil  an  audience  of  the  Pope.  When  at  length 
the  audience  took  place,  on  the  eve  of  Cecil's  depar- 
ture, the  English  priest  laid  before  his  Holiness  the 
prayers  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  and  the  good  wishes 
for  them  expressed  by  the  King  of  Spain.  "They 
pretended  to  nothing  else,  he  said,  but  restoring 
the  Catholic  religion  in  their  country,  and  deliver- 
ing their  King  from  the  heretics,  by  whom  he  was 
oppressed."  Clement  VIII.  was  very  far  from  being 
a  fool,  and  understood  perfectly  well  that  Philip 
would  never  lift  a  finger  to  help  a  party  that  pro- 
fessed such  objects  as  this.  "  He  was  very  well 
satisfied,"  he  drily  told  Father  Cecil,  "  of  the  inten- 
tions of  the  Catholic  Lords,  and  also  of  the  King  of 


SCOTTISH   ENVOYS   IN    ROME         203 

Spain's  expressed  intention  of  helping  them,  with- 
out respect  to  his  own  particular  interest.  He  was 
very  well  contented  with  so  holy  a  resolution  of  his 
Catholic  Majesty.  But  he  had  great  fear  of  the 
delays  of  Spain,  with  which  they  wearied  the  world ; 
besides,  the  King  of  Scots  had  beguiled  him  (the 
Pope),  and  had  communicated  to  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land the  intelligence  that  he  had  had  with  him." 
This  was  as  far  as  Clement  VIII.  would  go  ;  and 
to  his  nephew.  Cardinal  Aldobrandino,  and  to  the 
"protector"  of  Scottish  affairs,  Cardinal  Gaetano,  he 
deputed  the  task  of  politely  but  firmly  making  Cecil 
understand  that  not  a  penny  would  be  contributed 
to  their  enterprise  by  the  Pope.  If  the  Scottish 
Catholic  emissaries  had  understood  the  position, 
they  must  have  seen  that  their  clients'  case  was 
hopeless  of  effectual  aid  from  the  moment  they 
talked  about  their  desire  being  solely  to  benefit 
their  religion,  and  by  inference  included  in  their 
programme  the  conversion  of  James. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  arrival  of  Bal- 
garys,  Barclay,  and  Cecil  in  Rome,  another  Scots- 
man appeared  there  with  a  still  more  significant 
mission.  Although  the  leaders  of  the  Catholic 
nobility  had  been  banished  or  forbidden  to  leave 
their  estates,  the  sincerity  of  the  King  of  Scots  in 
his  Protestantism  was  still  gravely  doubted  by  the 
Kirk.  The  Covenant  was  solemnly  renewed,  and 
the  Church  Assembly  joined  with  the  Puritan  towns 
and  gentry  in  formally  requesting  James  to  confis- 
cate the  estates  of  the  Catholic  Lords  (March  1596). 
This  was  most  unpalatable  to  the  King.  It  was, 
in  his  view,  vital  that  he  should  retain  the  goodwill 


204  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

of  his  Catholic  subjects,  or  they  might  at  a  critical 
moment  effectually  oppose  his  succession  to  the 
English  throne.  He  was,  moreover,  profoundly 
moved  by  the  open  advocacy  in  Father  Persons' 
book  of  the  right  of  the  Infanta  to  succeed,  in 
consequence  of  his  (James's)  heresy.^  This  book, 
written  by  a  leading  Jesuit,  known  to  be  in  the 
confidence  of  Philip,  was  avowedly  a  blow  at  James's 
claims ;  and  now  that  the  banished  Scottish  Lords 
were,  as  he  knew,  appealing  to  the  Spanish  King  for 
help,  the  most  unfortunate  thing  that  could  happen, 
in  James's  opinion,  was  that  his  Protestant  subjects, 
and  Elizabeth  between  them,  should  sever  the  last 
hopes  in  him  entertained  by  the  Catholics. 

In  this  dilemma  James  took  a  thoroughly  character- 
istic course.  On  the  2nd  January  1596  he  published 
a  proclamation  to  his  subjects  calling  upon  them 
vigorously  to  unite  with  England  to  resist  the 
threatened  invasion  of  the  Spaniards,"^  "  the  common 

^  The  Venetian  ambassador  in  France  wrote  to  the  Doge,  March  23, 
1 596  :  "  The  King  of  Scotland  is  under  arms,  more  by  sea  than  by 
land,  as  he  is  disgusted  with  the  King  of  Spain  for  the  i)rotection  he 
gives  to  the  rebel  Scots  ;  also  because  of  a  book  published  in  Spain, 
wherein  all  claims  to  the  crown  of  England  are  discussed,  and  the 
King  of  Scotland  is  entirely  excluded,  the  King  of  Spain  and  the 
Infanta  both  being  put  before  him"  (Venetian  Calendar).  How  dis- 
tasteful this  open  advocacy  of  the  Infanta's  claim  was,  not  only  to 
Englishmen,  but  also  to  the  Pope  and  all  Catholics  but  the  adherent  of 
Spain  (piand  meme,  is  seen  in  an  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Dr. 
Gilford  to  Throgmorton.  "  I  have  made  an  abstract  of  Parsons'  book, 
and  have  given  it  to  the  Nuncio  (in  Flanders),  who  is  mad  at  Parsons, 
and  bade  me  write  10  the  Bishop  of  Cassano,  and  assure  him  that 
Parsons  had  ruined  himself,  and  that  the  Pope  would  detest  his  be- 
haviour, and  that  he  could  never  have  done  anything  more  disgustable 
to  the  Pojie"  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  vi.). 

'^  The  scare  of  Spanish  preparations  was  at  this  time  greater  in  Scot- 
land than  in  England.  W.  Colville,  writing  to  Bowes,  January  17, 
1 596,  says,  "  We  think  verily  here  that  you  shall  be  swallowed  up  this 


JAMES'S    DIPLOMACY  205 

enemy  of  both  nations,"  and  thus  won  from  Elizabeth 
the  rare  reward  of  her  unstinted  praise.  "  I  must 
tel  you,"  she  wrote  to  liim,  "  that  I  cannot  imagin 
how  you  could  by  any  more  glorious  menes  set  out 
your  care  for  your  land,  your  love  to  your  neighbours, 
and  your  hate  to  such  wrongful  invaders,  than  with 
your  pen  and  charge  to  your  subjects  you  have 
uttered.  ...  In  me  hit  hathe  set  a  deepe  impression 
of  a  cousin-like  zeal,  that  mixeth  not  his  loss  with 
her  decay,  and  joyeth  not  that  she  should  perish,"  ^ 
Having  thus  disarmed  Elizabeth,  James  smiled  once 
more  on  the  banished  lords  (except  Bothwell,  his 
personal  enemy,  whom  he  never  forgave),  and  soon 
Huntly,  Errol,  and  Angus  crept  back  to  Scotland, 
and  were  allowed  to  go  unmolested  to  their  homes. 
The  Kirk  raved  in  vain,  and  took  the  extreme  and 
even  disloyal  course  of  appointing  a  "  Standing 
Council,"  which  should  control  the  King  and  Govern- 
ment. Black  thundered  sedition  from  the  pulpit  of 
St.  Andrews  as  violently  as  Knox  himself  would 
have  done  in  like  circumstances  ;  but  James,  with 
the  Catholics  at  his  bidding,  and  the  Queen  of 
Eugland  well  disposed,  could  afford  to  brave  the 
ministers,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  1596  he  had 
crushed  the  malcontents  by  force  of  arms  and 
humbled  the  power  of  the  Kirk. 

But  whilst  he  was  thus  conciliating  Elizabeth  with 
his    proclamation    against    Spanish    aggression    and 

suniiner  insoiniicli  as  tlie  preparation  of  the  Spaniard  is  held  to  be  out 
of  douljt  ;  that  the  French  King  and  Philip  will  accord,  and  the  States 
of  Holland  will  return  to  him.  So  they  think  you  shall  have  no 
friendship  but  from  hence,"  i.e.  England  (Letter-book  of  John  Colville, 
Bannatyne  Club). 

1  Letters  of  Elizabeth  and  James,  (Camden  Society). 


2o6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

curbing  the  "  ministers,"  he  was  cleverly  and  secretly 
carrying  on  an  extraordinary  intrigue  which  was 
intended  to  secure  his  accession  to  the  English 
throne,  happen  what  might,  and  to  bind  the 
Catholics  to  him  strongly,  whilst  frustrating  the  evil 
result  to  him  that  might  follow  the  appeal  of  Huntly 
and  his  followers  to  Philip  and  the  Pope.  The 
man  whom  he  chose  as  his  agent  was  John  Ogilvie, 
Laird  of  Pury,  who,  five  years  before,  had  been 
originally  nominated  to  the  unsuccessful  mission 
eventually  entrusted  to  George  Ker.  Pury  Ogilvie, 
as  he  was  called,  had  an  extremely  crooked  task  to 
perform  and  he  made  it  more  crooked  still.  He  was 
first — in  the  autumn  of  1595 — to  go  to  Flanders. 
There  were  many  amongst  the  fugitives  there  known 
to  be  unfavourable  to  the  Spanish-Jesuit  party,  and 
the  publication  of  Persons'  book  had  alienated  many 
more.  Ogilvie  was  to  approach  Paget  and  his 
friends  of  this  party,  and  solemnly  assure  them  that 
James  was  really  a  Catholic.^ 

The  next  step  was  for  Ogilvie   to  make  friends 
with  the  Pope's  Nuncio  in  Flanders,  Cardinal  Mal- 

*  This  is  what  Dr.  Gifford,  one  of  the  "  patriotic  "  refugees,  wrote  at 
the  time.  "  Here  is  a  proper  lord  of  Scotland  come  over,  called  Ogilvy, 
who  saieth  to  Paget  in  secret,  and  assureth  him,  the  King  of  Scots  is 
well  inclined,  and  if  he  may  see  men  in  the  field  he  will  venture  all  to 
be  Free.  He  (Ogilvy)  will  be  shortly  at  Rome  to  talk  witli  the  Pope. 
The  wife  of  the  King  of  Scots  is  now  certainly  reconciled  {i.e.  to  the 
Church  of  Rome).  This  is  a  profound  secret,  but  113  positively 
assures  Paget  that  such  is  the  case''  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  vi.).  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  reason  why  James  took  this  step  of  conciliating 
the  anti-Spanish  refugees  at  this  juncture  was  the  rumour  then  curi-ent 
that  a  compromise  was  under  discussion  by  which  Arabella  Stuart 
might  be  adopted  by  general  consent  as  Elizabeth's  heir.  The  Welsh 
and  English  anti-Spanish  refugees  were  known  to  be  inclined  to  favour 
this  solution,  as  it  would  obviate  the  unpopular  necessity  of  subjecting 
England  to  the  rule  of  a  Scotsman, 


PURY   OGILVIE'S   MISSION  207 

vasia,  who,  as  we  have  seen  by  the  note  on  page  204, 
was   ill-disposed   towards   Spain.     Ogilvie    told   the 
Cardinal  that  he  had  been  sent  by  King  James  to 
procure  aid  from  the  Pope  and  the  Italian  princes 
to  defend  himself  against  his  rebellious  subjects,  and 
to  procure  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  England. 
He   (James)  was  desirous    of  receiving   instruction 
and  of  being  converted  to  the  Catholic  religion.    But 
as  most  of  his  rebels  were  Catholics,  who  were  in 
favour  of  making  the  King  of  Spain  also  King  of 
England  and  Scotland,   he,  James,  was   obliged  to 
temporise  with  heretics  and  "  politicians  "  in  order 
to  support  himself  against  so  potent  an  adversary 
as  the  King  of  Spain,  who,  under  the  pretence  of 
favouring  the  Catholics,  endeavoured  to  make  him- 
self master  of  those  kingdoms,  which  would  not  be 
expedient  either  for  the  Pope  or  the  Italian  princes. 
But   if  they,   the  Italians,   would  not  help  him,  he 
would  be  obliged  to  put  himself  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  King  of  Spain,  and  make  the  best  terms 
with    him    that   he   could. ^     The  Nuncio,  naturally 
taken  in  with  this   frank   avoAval,   expressed   in   no 
measured    terms   his   opinion    of   the   ambition   and 
insincerity  of  the  Spanish  King,  and  Ogilvie  care- 
fully treasured  up  in  his  memory  the  unfavourable 
language  used  by  the  Italian  Churchman. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  all  this  intimacy 
between  the  Scottish  envoy  and  the  anti-Spanish 
party  in  Flanders  should  escape  the  eyes  of  such  as 
Father  Holt  and  Hugh  Owen ;    and   when   Ogilvie 

1  A  series  of  letters,  interceiite'l  by  the  French  and  sent  to  the  Earl 
of  Essex,  relating  to  this  extraordinarily  complicated  intrigue,  are  quoted 
at  lent'tli  in  Birch. 


2o8  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

sought  an  interview  with  Secretary  Ibarra,  Philip's 
Minister  in  Flanders,  he  found  extremely  black  looks 
to  greet  him.     Nothing  abashed,  the  Scotsman  en- 
tered upon  his  negotiation.     He  had  been  sent,  he 
said,  by  the  King  of  Scots  to  seek  a  close  under- 
standing with  the  King  of  Spain  against  England. 
James  was  sincerely  desirous  of  becoming  a  Catholic, 
and  of  avenging  the  murder  of  his  mother  and  the 
Queen   of  England's  ill-treatment   of  himself.      He 
was  ready  to  concur  now  in  the  extirpation  of  all 
heresy   from    England,    Scotland,   and    Ireland ;    to 
enter  into  an   offensive   and  defensive  league   with 
Philip    against  all   the   world,   and  immediately   to 
make  war  upon  England  ;  to  become  reconciled  to 
his  Catholic  nobles  ;  to  recall  all  Scotsmen  in  the 
service  of  heretics  abroad  ;   to  receive  and  protect  all 
Catholics  from  England  who  might  take  refuge  in 
Scotland;  to  furnish  the  King  of  Spain  with  a  con- 
tingent of  10,000  Scottish  troops;  and,  as  a  pledge 
for  his  sincerity,  he  volunteered  to  deliver  his  son 
and  heir  into  the  keeping  of  the  King  of  Spain.     In 
return  for  all  this  James  would  ask   Philip  not  to 
oppose    in    any  way  his    accession  to   the   English 
throne,  but  that  he  should,  on  the  contrary,  provide 
him  with   an  army  of  12,000  men  whilst  the  war 
with  England  lasted,  and  give  him  a  subvention  of 
500,000  ducats  with  which  to  commence  the  war ; 
and  that  he  should  in  future  only  treat  with  James 
himself,  and  not  with  the  Scottish  Catholic  nobles 
or  their  representatives. 

This  was  so  surprising  to  Ibarra  that  he  appears 
to  have  expressed  some  disbelief  in  the  sincerity  of 
James's  offers,  seeing  how  intimate  Ogilvie  had  been 


COMPLICATED    DIPLOMACY  209 

since  his  arrival  in  Flanders  with  those  who  were 
known  to  be  in  opposition  to  Spanish  views  for 
England  and  Scotland.  Ogilvie  then  seems  to  have 
taken  a  most  extraordinary  course,  which  can  only 
be  explained  by  the  assumption  that  he  was  a  young 
man  of  extreme  levity  and  untrustworthiness,  deter- 
mined at  any  sacrifice  to  feather  his  own  nest.  His 
mission,  he  told  Ibarra,  was  a  mere  farce ;  the  King 
and  some  heretics  and  "politicians"  had  really  sent 
him  "  to  rouse  up  some  people's  spleen,  and  make 
them  friends  to  the  King  of  Scotland  against  the 
King  of  Spain;"  which  meant,  of  course,  to  attract 
wavering  Catholics  from  the  Jesuit  party  to  the 
opposite  side.  For  that  purpose  he,  Ogilvie,  had 
"  conferred  with  Paget,  Gilford,  and  other  English- 
men of  that  herd ;  but  it  was  all  partiality  and 
passion,  and  the  King  of  Scotland  was  a  heretic." 
But,  continued  Ogilvie,  he  himself  was  a  true  Catho- 
lic, and  if  the  King  of  Spain  would  give  him  a 
pension,  "  he  would  manage  affairs  the  contrary  way 
from  what  the  heretics  and  politicians  aimed  at." 
This  style  of  negotiation  was  much  more  in  Ibarra's 
line,  and  he  promised  the  respectable  Ogilvie  100 
ducats  a  month,  with  which  the  Scottish  envoy  went 
on  his  way  to  Italy  rejoicing. 

His  next  stages  were  Venice  and  Florence,  and  to 
both  the  Doge  and  the  Grand  Duke  he  spoke  in  the 
same  tone  as  he  had  to  the  Nuncio.  The  Italian 
princes,  including  the  Pope,  were  extremely  jealous 
of  Spain,  and  their  replies  to  Ogilvie's  charming 
were  all  to  the  same  effect.  They  could  spare  no 
money  or  help  to  the  King  of  Scots  themselves,  but 
they  fully   recognised   that  the   ambition  of  Philip 

o 


2IO  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

was  not  to  forward  Catholicism  so  much  as  to  en- 
sure his  own  supremacy  over  Christendom.  So 
far  Ogilvie's  efforts  were  admirably  calculated  to 
alienate  Catholics  in  general,  and  especially  English 
Catholics,  from  the  Jesuit-Spanish  party  by  pro- 
moting the  expression  of  belief  in  the  political  and 
ambitious  objects  of  Philip ;  but  when  the  envoy 
arrived  in  Rome  (December  1595),  he  found  himself 
in  the  midst  of  the  other  Scottish  intrigue  in  favour 
of  Huntly  and  the  Catholic  Lords,  which  was  being 
carried  on  by  Father  Cecil,  Lord  Balgarys,  and  Hugh 
Barclay,  and  the  King  of  Scotland's  emissary  was 
obliged  somewhat  to  alter  his  tone. 

He  brought  letters  from  the  Scottish  Catholic 
Lords  to  their  envoy  Cecil,  who  soon  wormed  him- 
self into  the  confidence  of  Ogilvie,  and  promptly 
carried  to  the  Duke  of  Sessa,  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador in  Rome,  the  gist  of  their  conversations. 
Ogilvie  himself  only  visited  the  ambassador  secretly 
at  night,  in  order,  apparently,  that  his  communi- 
cations with  the  Italians  at  the  Vatican  might  not 
be  hampered  by  any  open  show  of  a  friendship  with 
Spain.  To  the  Duke  of  Sessa  and  to  Father  Cecil 
he  told  the  same  story  as  he  had  to  the  Nuncio 
in  Flanders  (p.  207),  but  with  the  addition  that  all 
the  Italians  were  badly  disposed  towards  Spain,  and 
from  them  nothing  could  be  expected,  the  inference 
being  that  James  must  therefore  turn  exclusively 
to  Spain.  The  Spanish  ambassador  was  quite  eager 
to  confirm  this  view  of  the  question,  and  tried  his 
best  to  hurry  Ogilvie  away  to  Spain  to  propose  his 
treaty.  The  Italians,  he  assured  him,  had  no  money 
to  give  to  the  Scots,  and  the  talk  of  the  King  of 
Spain's  being  angry  with  James  was  all  nonsense. 


A   TANGLED   SKEIN  211 

Philip's  one  object,  said  his  ambassador,  was  to 
extirpate  heresy  everywhere,  and  not,  as  the  Itahans 
asserted,  to  make  himself  monarch  of  the  world. 
If  James  would  become  a  Catholic  he  would  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  Spain. 

This  was  in  January  and  February  1596,  and  in 
the  meanwhile  Cecil,  l>algarys,  and  Darclay  wore 
losing  patience.  Philip  had  promised  them  his 
decision  as  to  the  help  he  would  give  to  the 
Scottish  Catholics  when  they  had  arrived  in  Kome, 
but  no  letter  came  from  Spain,  and  the  envoys,  in 
despair,  were  anxious  to  return  to  Flanders.  But 
they  deeply  distrusted  the  sincerity  of  James  and 
the  meaning  of  Ogilvie's  embassy,  and  to  have 
retired  from  the  field,  leaving  the  King's  envoy  in 
possession,  would  have  been  unwise ;  so  Father 
Cecil  set  to  work  deliberately  to  discredit  him  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Spanish  ambassador.  Ogilvie,  in 
conversation  with  Father  Cecil,  had  confessed  that 
James  was  of  no  particular  religion,  but  would  pro- 
fess anything  that  tended  to  his  advantage.  He 
also  let  slip,  according  to  Cecil,  that  James  suspected 
that  Elizabeth  was  arranging  with  the  Bearnais 
(Henry  IV.)  to  poison  or  divorce  the  wife  of  the  latter 
in  order  that  he  might  marry  Arabella  Stuart  and 
succeed  to  the  English  throne  ;  and  again,  that  if 
she  (Elizabeth)  found  herself  assailed  by  Spain,  she 
would  appeal  to  the  Pope  and  embrace  Catholicism. 
This  talk  was  of  course  ridiculous,  and  was  most 
probably  invented  by  Cecil  10  blacken  Ogilvie.  At 
all  events,  it  puzzled  the  Duke  of  Sessa,  who  thought 
it  might  infer  that  Ogilvie  had  come  to  Home  "  with 
some  artful  design  "  to  the  detriment  of  Spain,  and 
both  he  and  Cecil  did  their  best  to  persuade  him  to 


212  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

proceed  into  Philip's  dominions.  At  the  same  time, 
both  Cecil  and  Balgarys  clamoured  more  persistently 
than  ever  that  Philip  should  send  an  expedition 
to  aid  the  Scottish  Catholics.  The  Pope  now,  they 
said,  could  not  object,  for  the  King  of  Scots  himself 
had  claimed  to  be  a  Catholic,  anxious  for  liberation 
from  his  heretic  subjects.  But  unfortunately  the 
Scottish  envoys  were  all  secretly  at  issue  amongst 
themselves,  and  Sessa  was  more  perplexed  than 
ever ;  for  Philip  seldom  took  even  his  highest 
officers  into  his  confidence,  and  his  ambassador  was 
absolutely  in  the  dark  as  to  his  real  intention. 
Balgarys  whispered  that  Father  Cecil  was  suspected 
to  have  sold  himself  to  Lord  Burghley  (which  was 
quite  true).  Cecil  accused  Balgarys  of  only  trying 
to  forward  the  interests  of  Lord  Huntly,  and  not 
of  the  Catholics  generally.  Barclay  secretly  urged 
that  the  Spanish  forces  should  be  sent  to  the  west 
of  Scotland,  whereas  Balgarys  insisted  privately 
behind  his  colleague's  back  that  they  should  be 
sent  to  the  Huntly  country  in  the  east.  Sessa,  not 
knowing  whether  any  Spanish  force  was  to  go  to 
Scotland  at  all,  could  only  do  his  best  to  keep  every 
road  open  by  persuading  the  Pope  that  if  the 
Spanish  force  did  go  to  Scotland,  James  would  not 
be   dethroned   if  he   became   a  Catholic.^     But,   he 

'  There  appears  to  have  been  some  divergence  in  the  Jesuit  party  at 
this  period  with  regard  to  James.  They  had  previously  been  nearly 
unanimous  in  their  strong  disbelief  in  the  possibility  of  his  conver- 
sion ;  but  now  some  of  them,  at  all  events,  made  an  appearance  of 
urging  him  to  submit.  The  explanation  probably  is  that  they,  no 
more  than  the  rest  of  the  world,  knew  whether  Philip's  force  would 
or  would  not  make  Scotland  its  base,  and  they  were  desirous  of 
begiailing  James  into  welcoming,  or  at  least  not  opposing,  it  if  it 
entered  a  Scottish  port.  It  is  quite  certain  that  Philip  and  his  party 
never  really  intended  to  be  friendly  with  James  for  the  latter's  benefit. 


PHILIP   AND   JAMES  213 

cynically  adds  in  his  letter  to  the  King,  that  he 
(Philip)  need  not  wait  for  the  authority  of  the  Pope. 
They  none  of  them  (i.e.  the  Italian  C'hiirchmen) 
believe  that  an  expedition  will  really  go,  and  would 
accept  accomplished  facts  better  than  listen  to  pro- 
jects. The  Churchmen  in  this  case  understood  Philip 
better  than  did  his  own  ambassador.  There  was 
less  prospect  of  a  Spanish  force  helping  the  Scottish 
Catholics  now  than  ever  before.  The  slightest 
leaning  of  James  towards  Catholicism  always  effec- 
tually checked  that,  though  whether  the  King  of 
Scots  understood  that  this  was  the  case  or  not  is 
doubtful.  At  length  Sessa  obtained  some  small 
guidance  from  his  master.  The  Pope  was  to  be 
told  that  the  professed  conversion  of  James  was 
only  an  artful  pretence,  and  the  mission  of  Ogilvie 
had  been  prompted  by  the  Queen  of  England  her- 
self,   in    order    to    raise    the   jealousy    of  Catholics 

John  Colville,  writing  to  Bowes*  from  Edinburgh  at  this  time  (January 
1596),  says:  "  Evin  at  the  closing  up  lieirof,  I  was  informed  that  a 
schip  was  arryved  from  Fhmderis,  wharin  wes  one  IHpliinston  Jesuit 
.  .  .  having  with  him  commission  boyth  from  the  Pope  and  Philip,  to 
deall  with  his  Majestie  and  offer  conditions,  so  he  will  concur  against 
her  Majestie  (Elizabeth)  and  the  Huguenots.  ...  In  lyk  manner  two 
other  Jesuits  have  written  home  to  his  Majestie  persuading  his  Grace 
timeously  to  enter  in  friendship  with  Spain.  .  .  .  Tyrie  has  written  to 
Lord  Hume,  schawing  that  the  King's  Majestie  (Jame^<)  must,  by 
example  ot  the  King  of  Fiance,  either  renounce  his  kingdom  or  else 
be  a  Catholic  "  (Letter-book  of  John  Colvillo,  lixnnatyne  Club). 

An  intercepted  letter  from  the  Duke  of  Sessa  to  Philip,  of  February 
20,  1596  (Bacon  Papers,  Birch),  says  that  Father  Tyrie,  the  Scottish 
Jesuit  in  Rome,  had  previously  been  against  Spanish  aims,  but  that  he 
had  recently  altered  his  opinion.  Some  letters  recently  received  by 
the  General  of  the  Jesuits  had  convinced  him  and  others  that  James 
was  a  heretic,  and  would  always  remain  so.  Sessa  thereupon  rejoices 
that  the  Pope's  eyes  will  lie  opened  without  any  Spanish  influence 
appearing.  By  this  we  may  conclude  that  the  few  Scottish  Jesuits  who 
were  anxious  to  promote  the  greatness  of  their  own  country  were 
now  being  finally  overruled  by  their  superiors. 


2  14  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

against  Spain. ^  This  was  another  reason  for  get- 
ting Ogilvie  away  on  his  mission  to  Spain.  He  had 
a  ship  waiting  for  him  at  Naples,  but  no  money. 
This  difficulty  was  got  over  by  Sessa's  giving  him 
a  gold  chain  worth  230  crowns ;  and  at  length,  on 
the  27th  February,  Ogilvie,  accompanied  by  Father 
Cecil,  at  the  urgent  request  of  Sessa,  sailed  for 
Genoa  and  Spain. 

They  arrived  at  Toledo  in  May  1596,  and  Ogilvie 
presented  his  letter  of  credence  and  a  formal  memo- 
randum of  James's  desire  for  an  offensive  and  defen- 
sive alliance  between  Scotland  and  Spain  against 
England.  On  their  long  voyage  Father  Cecil  had 
possessed  himself  of  all  of  Ogilvie's  instructions,  and 
immediately  after  Ogilvie  had  presented  his  memo- 
randum to  the  King  the  priest  presented  another, 
attacking  and  opposing  it  article  by  article.^  It  is 
not  quite  clear  what  Father  Cecil's  object  was  at 
this  juncture.  He  was  secretly  in  the  pay  of  the 
English  Government,  and  was  violently  opposed — 
though  not  even  Persons  himself  knew  it  at  the 
time — to  the  Spanish  Jesuit  party  ;  he  was,  moreover, 
apparently  a  sincere  Catholic,  and  presumably,  like 
the  majority  of  the  party,  he  secretly  favoured  the 
succession  of  James  to  the  English  throne,  either  as 
a  Catholic  or  with  toleration  to  Catholicism.     His 

^  It  will  be  seen  by  the  note  on  page  213  that  Sessa  congratulated  him- 
self that  the  Jesuits  would  represent  this  to  the  Pope  before  he  (Sessa) 
did  so,  and  tliat  tliis  would  render  the  Pope  less  suspicious  of  Spanish 
aims.  Sessa  repeats  a  saying  of  Sixtus  V.  in  this  connection,  and  says 
that  Clement  VIII.  has  a  similar  idea.  "The  Spaniards  are  Catholics, 
it  is  true,"  said  Sixtus,  "  but  they  believe  nobody  else  is "  (Bacon 
Papers,  Birch). 

2  The  memorandum  in  full  with  Cecil's  commentary  was  long  after- 
wards (ibtained  and  sent  to  England  by  Sir  Henry  Neville.  It  is 
printed  in  vol.  i.  of  the  VVinwood  State  Papers. 


CECIL   ATTACKS   OGILVIE  215 

reason  for  thus  bitterly  attacking  Jaraes's  professed 
desire  for  conversion  must  either  have  been  prompted 
by  a  wish  to  see  Arabella  Stuart  or  some  other  Eng- 
lish claimant  succeed  to  Elizabeth  on  the  demise  of 
the  crown,  or  what  is  more  likely,  simply  to  con- 
vince the  Spaniards  and  the  Jesuits,  for  his  own 
ends,  that  he  was  ardently  on  their  side.  In  any 
case,  his  attack  upon  Ogilvie  and  his  mission  was 
violent  in  the  extreme.  The  envoy  was,  he  said,  a 
doubtful  Catholic,  and  was  no  friend  to  the  Catho- 
lic nobles ;  he  had  associated  in  Flanders  with 
Paget,  Gifford,  and  others  of  the  Eno^lish  "  political  " 
party,  who  adhere  to  the  King  of  Scots  regardless 
of  religion,  and  he  was  not  in  agreement  with  the 
"  late  Cardinal  Allen,  Father  Persons,  Father  Holt, 
and  others  who  follow  the  same,  and  only  true 
course,  for  the  conversion  of  England."  His  letter 
of  credence,  he  said,  was  most  likely  a  forgery,  or 
else  the  King's  signature  has  been  obtained  by  some 
"  wile."  Besides,  who,  looking  at  the  King  of  Scots' 
past  life,  can  believe  that  he  would  really  become 
a  Catholic  ?  And  so,  one  point  after  the  other  is 
made,  showing  up  the  King's  monumental  insin- 
cerity in  all  things  and  the  envoy's  crooked  dealings 
with  all  men,  entirely,  no  doubt,  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  Philip,  for  it  reflected  exactly  the  opinions 
which  justified  him  in  claiming  for  his  daughter  the 
crown  of  England  by  virtue  of  James's  incurable 
heresy. 

After  the  usual  procrastination,  Ogilvie  was  dis- 
missed with  a  handsome  present  and  with  the  vague, 
sanctimonious  banalities  which,  in  Philip's  language, 
meant  No.  He  was  assigned  as  a  travelling  com- 
panion   homewards    a    Portuguese    gentleman    who 


2i6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

accompanied  him  as  far  as  Madrid.  But  there 
Ogilvie  seems,  not  without  reason,  to  have  taken 
fright,  and,  giving  his  companion  the  slip,  he  turned 
aside  and  hastened  to  Barcelona.  But  he  v^as  too 
late,  for  before  he  could  take  ship  Secretary  Ibarra 
himself  arrived  in  Spain,  and  told  the  story  how 
Ogilvie  had  cajoled  him  to  grant  him  a  pension,  on 
the  promise  that  he  would  betray  his  trust,  and  yet 
while  here  in  Toledo  he  had  negotiated  according  to 
the  letter  of  his  instructions.  This  was  enough,  and 
the  unfortunate  Laird  of  Fury  was  kept  in  durance 
at  Barcelona  until  it  could  be  learned  from  James 
whether  he  had  really  sent  him  or  not.^ 

Whilst  these  fruitless  and  mutually  paralysing 
Scottish  Catholic  intrigues  were  progressing,  matters 
of  far  more  serious  moment  were  being  conducted 
with  regard  to  Ireland.  The  blow  of  Cadiz  must 
have  convinced  Philip  that  the  crippling  of  England 
by  some  means  was  no  longer  needed  aloue  for  the 
extension  of  his  power,  but  for  the  maintenance  of 
his  very  existence  as  a  potentate  of  the  first  class. 
We  have  seen  how  nerveless  had  grown  his  officers 
and  people  under  his  blighting  sway,  but  he  himself, 
though  fast  hurrying  to  his  grave,  was  as  fully  con- 
vinced as  ever  of  his  final  invincibility,  and  of  his 
sacred  duty  to  follow  without  swerving  the  path 
that  had  hitherto  led  him  to  disaster.  In  all  his 
northern  ports  shipwrights,  riggers,  and  victuallers 

'  The  full  particulars  of  Ogilvie's  mission  was  not  known  to  the 
English  Government  until  three  years  afterwards,  when  Sir  H. 
Neville,  the  English  ambassador  in  France,  sent  to  Cecil  the  memo- 
randum with  Father  Cecil's  reply.  1  he  English  Government  then 
complained  to  James,  who  repudiated  Ogilvie  and  imprisoned  him  in 
Edinburgh  Castle.  See  Winwood  State  Papers,  vol.  i.,  and  Birch, 
vol.  i. 


THE   ENGLISH   EXTREMISTS  217 

were  busy,  under  the  general  superintendence  of 
Don  Martin  de  Padilla,  Adelantado  of  Castile,  in 
fitting  out  ships  for  a  great  expedition.  Not  a  soul 
— except  perhaps  Don  Cristobal  de  Moura — knew 
what  its  destination  was  to  be.  That  was  locked  in 
the  breast  of  Philip.  The  Adelantado,  and  even 
Father  Persons,  were  as  ignorant  of  the  King's  inten- 
tion as  the  ragged  beggar  who  moped  and  mowed 
at  the  church  dooi.  But  it  was  patent  to  all  that 
the  great  naval  preparations  were  somewhere  and 
somewhen  to  strike  a  blow  at  England  in  revenge 
for  Cadiz ;  and  the  English  Catholics  of  the  Spanish 
faction  were  all  agog  to  share  in  the  glory  and  pros- 
perity that  they  hoped  might  come  to  them  from 
Philip's  determined  effort.  In  Spain  itself  spirits 
were  high,  for  men  knew  now  that  the  dreaded 
Drake  had  been  buried  fathoms  deep  in  the  far 
Atlantic,  and  that  his  fleet  had  been  dispersed. 
Confidence  in  Spanish  arms  and  hearts  once  more 
began  to  grow ;  Irish  and  vScottish  Catholics,  it  was 
known,  had  been  begging  the  King  to  extend  his 
paternal  rule  over  them,  and  Spaniards  were  proud 
that  other  peoples  should  envy  them  the  possession 
of  so  sacred  a  sovereign.  But  the  Englishmen  in 
Spain  and  Flanders  looked  somewhat  askance  at  all 
this  secret  hobnobbing  with  Scots  and  Irishry,  and 
tried  to  prevent  the  King's  mind  from  being  diverted 
from  the  main  object,  namely,  the  conversion  of 
England  itself  and  the  exclusion  of  Scottish  James 
at  any  cost. 

In  July  1596  the  little  body  of  English  stalwarts 
in  Spain,  under  the  guidance  of  Persons,  presented 
a  petition   to  the   King,   asking  him   to  appoint  a 


2i8  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

regular  board  of  Englishmen  in  Flanders  to  decide 
upon  all  English  matters.  Many  nobles  in  England, 
they  said,  were  willing  to  negotiate,  now  that  the 
Queen's  life  could  not  be  many  more  years  pro- 
longed, but  there  was  no  authorised  body  with 
whom  they  could  negotiate ;  and  even  the  English 
officers  commanding  contingents  in  Flanders  would 
willingly  come  to  an  understanding  for  a  settlement 
on  the  Queen's  death,  if  they  knew  with  whom  to 
deal.  Needless  to  say  that  the  members  recom- 
mended to  form  the  board  were  Stanley,  Owen, 
Treherne,  Dr.  Worthington,  Dr.  Pierce,  and  the 
Jesuit  Holt.  Those  who  were  against  the  Infanta, 
Paget,  Gifford,  Tresham,  Hesketh,  Nicholas  Fitz- 
herbert,  and  others,  were  to  be  sent  away  to  places 
where  they  could  do  no  harm.  Father  Persons  in 
Valladolid,  too,  sent  an  interminable  memorandum 
to  Idiaquez  for  the  King's  consideration,  laying 
down  the  principles  which  should  guide  him  "  in 
the  English  enterprise."  Some  of  these  priestly  re- 
commendations doubtless  made  Philip  smile  grimly, 
if  it  was  possible  for  him  to  smile  any  more.  He 
was  enjoined,  "  in  imitation  of  the  Holy  Kings  of 
old  to  make  some  vow  to  the  Lord,  such  as  to 
promise  Him,  if  He  gave  his  Majesty  victory,  to 
restore  to  the  Church  in  England  the  liberty  and 
privileges  it  possessed  before  King  Henry  separated 
it  from  the  Apostolic  See ;  and  especially  that  his 
Majesty  would  do  his  best  to  make  some  restitution 
.  .  .  with  regard  to  the  ecclesiastical  property  which 
was  taken  from  the  Church."  Another  recom- 
mendation seems  more  to  the  point.  The  King, 
thinks  Persons,  should  tranquillise  men's  minds  in 


FATHER   PERSONS'   ADVICE  219 

England,  and  disarm  jealous  foreigners,  by  announc- 
ing at  once  his  intention  not  to  unite  the  crown 
of  England  to  that  of  Spain.  A  tract,  he  proposes, 
might  be  written  by  some  reputable  Englishman, 
such  as  Sir  Francis  Englefield,  setting  forth  the 
advantages  to  be  gained  by  a  general  acceptance 
of  the  Infanta's  candidature.  Next,  Father  Persons 
urges  the  Kii  g  to  cause  a  diversion,  and  alarm 
Elizabeth  by  sending  a  force  to  aid  the  Scottish 
nobles:  "The  same  thing  maybe  said  of  the  Irish 
savages,  who  should  be  encouraged  by  some  trifling 
help  in  money  or  arras,"  and  the  English  exiles  in 
Flanders  should  be  aided  to  make  constant  piratical 
raids  on  the  English  coasts  and  shipping.  "  Another 
way  of  strengthening  our  friends  is  that  in  any  fieet 
his  Majesty  sends  to  England,  Ireland,  or  Scotland, 
there  should  go  some  high  English  ecclesiastic, 
such  as  Dr.  Stapleton  or  other  in  Flanders,  with 
authority  both  from  the  Pope  and  his  Majesty  to 
settle  matters,  and  assure  the  English  of  his  Majesty's 
intentions,  in  opposition  to  the  countless  lies  of  our 
enemies.  .  .  .  If  the  people  do  not  see  such  a  prelate 
come  in  his  Majesty's  fleet,  they  will  be  confirmed 
in  their  suspicion  that  the  heretics  have  been  telling 
the  truth  in  saying  that  his  Majesty  wanted  to 
conquer  the  country,  and  will  doubt  the  Pope's 
intention  of  absolving  them  from  their  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  Queen."  A  printing  press  will 
have  to  be  carried  in  the  fleet,  "  such  as  was  pre- 
pared in  Flanders  in  the  year  '88":  the  excom- 
munication of  the  Queen  must  be  renewed  by  the 
Pope,  and  the  proclamation  drawn  up  by  Allen  for 
the    Armada   should    be    now   reissued,    with    such 


2  20  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

alterations  as  are  needful.  If  there  is  any  difficulty 
in  making  Dr.  Stapleton  a  cardinal/  he  might  be 
created  by  secret  brief  Bishop  of  Durham  or  Ely  and 
Papal  Nuncio  in  England,  smaller  English  bishoprics 
being  given  to  Dr.  Worthington  and  Dr.  Pierce. 
"  But  if  the  fleet  is  going  to  Ireland,  it  might  be 
better  to  give  the  title  of  Archbishop  of  Dublin  to 
an  English  priest  (Joseph  Haydon),  who  lives  in 
Rome,  a  relative  of  Cardinal  Allen."  This  latter 
paragraph  proves  that  Persons  knew  nothing  of 
Philip's  plans,  and  the  fact  is  confirmed  by  what 
follows.  "  In  this  way  I  trust  in  God  that,  in  case 
his  Majesty  undertakes  something  promptly  to 
recover  his  prestige,  either  by  way  of  Ireland  or 
Scotland,  all  will  be  well.  I  write  this  on  the 
understanding  that  something  should  be  done 
quickly  to  recover  prestige,  because  otherwise,  with 
the  common  talk  in  England  and  all  Northern 
Europe  of  the  weakness  of  Spain  and  of  the  rich 
plunder  taken  by  the  English  (in  Cadiz),  twenty 
ships  of  theirs  will  be  fitted  out  for  every  one  before, 

^  Stajjleton  had  been  summoned  to  Rome  on  the  death  (October 
1595)  of  Owen  Lewis,  Bishop  of  Cassano,  who  had  been  designated  for 
the  cardinalate.  But  strong  pro-Spaniard  as  Stapleton  was,  Father 
Agazzari,  the  head  of  the  Jesuits,  thought  he  was  not  sufficiently 
thorough  to  be  made  a  cardinal,  and  wrote  to  Persons  in  Spain  to 
secure  the  promotion  of  a  person  about  whose  fidelity  to  the  crown 
(of  Spain)  there  can  be  no  doubt  (Law,  ''Jesuits  and  Seculars")  : 
Stapleton,  on  the  other  hand,  was  simultaneously  assuring  Persons 
that  he  would  "ever  remain  a  true  and  trusty  servant  to  his  Majesty 
of  Spain"  ("Douai  Diaries"),  and  in  1591  had  written  his  book, 
now  extremely  rare,  called  "Apologia  pro  Rege  CathoUco  Philippo  II. 
Hispanse,  contra  varias  et  falsas  accusationes  Elizabethee  Reginse." 
Father  Agazzari's  objection  to  him  could  hardly  have  been  his  luke- 
warmness  in  adhesion  to  Spain  ;  it  is  more  likely  to  have  arisen  from 
a  belief  that  Stapleton  was  more  attached  to  Spain  than  to  the  Society 
of  Jesus. 


PHILIP'S  SECRECY  221 

and  they  will  come  hither  like  flies.  With  regard 
to  commencing  with  England  or  Ireland,  there  is 
much  to  be  said  on  both  sides,  but  the  decision 
must  turn  upon  feasibility.  If  England  is  impos- 
sible, then  a  beginning  should  be  made  in  Ireland 
to  recover  prestige  and  give  a  starting-point  from 
which  to  attack  England  next  year,  rather  than 
doing  nothing.  .  .  .  Above  all,  matters  should  be 
arranged  to  send  the  force  to  England  in  September 
.  .  .  and  in  any  case,  the  Earls  in  Flanders  should 
return  to  Scotland  ;  and  the  Catholics  in  Scotland, 
who  are  awaiting  his  Majesty's  decision,  should 
receive  some  help  in  money  to  raise  troops." 

And  so  on  for  many  pages,  Father  Persons  lays 
down  his  rules  for  Philip's  guidance,  in  ignorance  of 
both  the  real  aims  and  intentions  of  the  autocrat. 
One  significant  paragraph  at  the  end  of  this  docu- 
ment will  probably  provide  for  us  later  a  key  to  a 
problem  which  has  never  yet  been  satisfactorily 
solved.  It  would  be  well,  it  says,  for  some  fitting  per- 
son also  to  go  to  England  to  treat  with  those  Earls 
there  who  twice  sent  their  agent,  Sterello,  to  Flanders 
last  winter,  and  to  see  what  foundation  there  was  for 
the  new  offer  about  Flushing.^  All  July  and  August 
Persons  was  busy  in  his  prospective  arrangements 
for  the  success  of  the  new  Armada,  and  bombarded 
the  younger  Idiaquez  with  memoranda,  exhortations, 
and  advice  for  the  King.  He  was  deeply  engaged, 
he  said,  in  translating  into  Latin  to  send  to  the 
Pope  his  famous  book  on  the  English  succession, 
for  Persons  himself  was  summoned  to  Rome  to  quell 
the  renewed    disturbances    in   the    English   College 

1  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


222  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

there/  and  he  was  anxious  when  he  left  Spain  that 
everything  should  be  in  order,  from  the  Jesuit  point 
of  view,  for  the  subjugation  of  England.  In  the 
first  days  of  September  he  wrote  to  Idiaquez:  "Please 
let  me  know  also  about  the  voyage  of  the  Adelan- 
tado.  Although  you  say  nothing,  I  am  thinking 
that  perhaps  his  Majesty  may  be  sending  him  to 
Ireland.  If  neither  of  the  other  roads  (i.e.  England 
or  Scotland)  is  practicable,  I  told  you  and  also  his 
Majesty  that  this  Irish  way  might  be  adopted  with 
God's  blessing.  Much  will  depend  upon  the  Adelan- 
tado's  taking  with  him  from  here  sufficient  men, 
arms,  and  money,  and  his  going  thither  before  the 
winter  sets  in  or  the  Queen  learns  the  design.  I 
have  put  upon  paper  a  few  observations  that  will  be 
useful  to  him  when  he  arrives."  To  be  quite  ready 
for  every  eventuality  also,  Father  Persons  took  the 
precaution  of  sending  to  Lisbon  a  Jesuit,  the  Vice- 
Rector  of  the  College  of  Valladolid,  with  half-a- 
dozen  young  English  missionary  priests  to  be  shipped 
on  the  Armada.  Though  they  were  ready  to  risk 
their  lives  at  the  bidding  of  their  Jesuit  superior, 
not  one  of  these  young  priests  knew  whither  they 
were  being  sent,  the  Vice-Rector,  "  who  is  very 
discreet  and  of  noble  English  family,"  alone  being 
in  his  principal's  confidence ;  but,  wrote  Persons, 
"  they  will  be  worth  their  weight  in  gold  when  they 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note,  as  marking  the  intrepid  character  of 
Persons,  that  the  aged  and  blind  Sir  Francis  Euglefield,  having;  expressed 
a  fear  that  the  antagonists  of  the  Jesuits  in  Rome  would  detain  Dr. 
Persons  there,  the  latter  wrote,  "  I  fear  not,  nor  does  my  spirit  faint 
within  me,  as  St.  Paul  said.  God  has  brought  me  through  worse  passes 
than  this,  and  I  am  full  of  faith  and  liope  that  He  will  give  his  Majesty 
victory  "  (Spanish  Calendar). 


THE    NEW    ARMADA  223 

arrive  there,"  though  he  had  to  boriow  the  money 
to  send  them  on  their  way  to  Lisbon. 

Before  he  left  Castile  for  Barcelona  on  his  way  to 
Rome,  Persons  amended,  in  accordance  with  the 
altered  circumstances,  the  proclamation  that  Allen 
had  written  to  be  disseminated  in  England  when  the 
Spanish  troops  had  landed  from  the  Armada  of  1588, 
The  English  attack  upon  Cadiz  was  now  made  one 
of  the  principal  reasons  why  the  King  of  Spain  had 
been  obliged  to  forego  his  "  accustomed  clemency  " 
towards  people  who  had  committed  so  many  out- 
rages against  him.  "  His  benignity,"  says  the  draft 
edict,  "has  only  made  them  bolder,  and  he  has  now 
decided  to  accede  to  the  universal  demand  of  the 
oppressed  Catholics  and  to  release  them  from  the 
yoke."  The  proclamation  promises  that  the  ancient 
laws  and  parliament  of  England  shall  be  maintained, 
the  ancient  nobility  and  gentry  upheld  in  their 
former  grandeur,  and  Philip  pledges  himself  to  con- 
firm in  their  position  and  possessions  all  those  that 
are  favourable  to  him,  whilst  in  cases  where  the  head 
of  a  house  is  against  him  he  will  recognise  as  chief 
the  next  heir  who  shall  aid  the  Catholic  army. 
AVhere  it  is  impossible  for  gentlemen  at  once  to 
proclaim  their  Catholic  sympathies,  the  King  will 
allow  them  to  remain  with  the  heretics  until 
they  can  conveniently  go  over,  but  at  least  they 
must  desert  the  enemy  at  the  time  of  battle.  His 
Majesty's  object  being  alone  the  peace  and  tran- 
quillity of  England  and  the  freedom  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  he  has  no  quarrel  with  the  English  people  as 
a  whole,  and  will  punish  with  the  utmost  severity 
any  man  in  the  Catholic  army  who  molests,  injures. 


2  24  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

or  attacks  the  land  or  people  of  the  country  other 
than  those  who  resist/ 

This  draft  edict  with  Father  Persons'  amendments 
was  left  with  Father  Joseph  Ores  well,  another  Jesuit, 
who  remained  in  Madrid  in  his  absence  to  watch 
and  help  in  English  affairs.  It  was  Creswell  who 
at  the  time  of  the  great  Armada  had,  at  Parma's 
instance,  turned  the  edict  into  English  ;  and  he  now 
considered  himself  authorised  to  suggest  in  its  word- 
ing and  spirit  far  more  sweeping  amendments  than 
those  made  by  Persons.  In  a  long  memorandum 
addressed  to  the  King  on  the  subject,  Creswell 
exhibits  himself  as  a  man  of  entirely  different 
methods  from  Persons.  The  latter  in  his  fierce 
zeal  would  have  no  compromise.  He  was  a  good 
hater,  a  good  fighter,  and  a  man  of  inflexible  will ; 
but  no  velvet  glove  softened  his  grip,  no  fallacious 
sweetness  tempered  the  bitter  venom  of  his  tongue. 
Creswell  was  more  the  typical  Jesuit,  crawling,  if 
need  be,  to  conquer ;  and  in  extremely  guarded  and 
sophistical  language  he  advises  Philip  to  adopt  a 
course  of  conciliation,  mildness,  and  moderation 
towards  the  English  after  the  conquest.  Liberality, 
magnanimity,  concessions,  rewards  are  the  themes 
of  Dr.  Creswell's  discourse,  though  he  professes 
himself  "  so  free  from  personal  or  national  bias  in 
the  matter,  that  if  I  heard  that  the  entire  destruc- 
tion of  England  was  for  the  greater  glory  of  God 
and  the  welfare  of  Christianity,  I  should  be  glad 
of  its  being  done."     This  was  the  natural  concession 

1  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  A  full  account  of  these  plans,  with 
many  additions  of  his  own,  gathered  probably  by  personal  communica- 
tion with  Persons  and  Creswell,  was  sent  to  the  Earl  of  Essex  by  Father 
Cecil,  who  still  remained  in  Ma(lrid  (Birch,  Memoirs). 


THE    NEW    ARMADA  225 

to  Jesuit  teaching ;  but  in  this  document,  and  in 
others  we  shall  notice  later,  Creswell  shows  that  the 
Society  of  Jesus  had  not  quite  killed  the  English- 
man in  him,  as  it  had  done  in  the  case  of  Persons. 

Whilst  these  priests  were  making  their  prepara- 
tions for  the  submission  of  England  to  their  faith 
at  the  point  of  Spanish  pikes,  and  the  Duchess  of 
Feria,^  Englefield,  and  the  few  English  pensioners 
and  leading  Churchmen  in  the  Peninsula,  were 
again  urging  that  the  Infanta  should  be  openly 
adopted  as  the  Spanish  nominee  to  the  English 
throne,  Philip  was  plodding  on  his  own  way,  thank- 
ing all  these  zealous  advisers  with  vague  sancti- 
moniousness, but  giving  no  inkling  to  any  of  them 
of  his  real  intentions.^ 

1  The  Duchess  of  Feria  (Jane  Dormer),  although  naturally  extremely 
pro-Spanish  and  a  personal  enemy  of  Elizabeth,  was  opposed  to 
Persons'  methods  and  aims.  It  will  be  recollected  tliat  there  had  been 
an.  obscure  intrigue  to  place  her  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  Flanders 
before  Parma's  death,  in  order  lliat  she  mi^^ht  manage  English  affairs  to 
her  liking.  She  apparently  longed  for  a  return  of  the  political  power 
of  the  old  Engli-h  Catholic  nobility  under  a  frequently  absent  foreign 
sovereign  like  the  Infanta.  But  neither  the  Duchess  of  Feria  nor  her 
class  in  England,  many  of  whom  were  enriched  by  ecclesiastical  lands, 
could  desire  to  live  under  a  harniw  in  the  hands  of  fierce  sacerdotal 
despots  like  Persons  and  Holt.  (See  letter  of  the  Duchess's  sister  Anne 
Lady  Huiigerford  to  the  Bishop  of  Cassano,  May  lo,  1595.  State 
Papers,  Domestic.)  Persons  himself,  on  his  way  to  Home  at  this  time, 
wrote  from  Genoa  to  Father  Holt  in  Flanders,  suggesting  that  the  most 
suitable  candidates  for  the  English  crown  would  be  "the  Infanta  with 
the  Prince  Cardinal "  (her  prospective  husband,  the  Archduke  Albert). 
This  suggestion  was  the  natural  sequel  of  Persons'  recent  book  on  the 
succession. 

-  The  Venetian  ambassador  in  Madrid  writes  (October  10,  15961, 
that  the  Adelantado  is  making  great  preparations  in  Lisbon.  "  He  has 
embarked  400  of  the  best  horses  in  Portugal,  arms  for  10,000  men, 
clothing  for  4000,  and  some  vestments  for  the  Mass.  He  has  collected 
great  numbers  of  carpenters,  smiths,  and  masons,  who  have  been 
pressed  if  they  would  not  go  willingly.  He  has  brought  together 
every  sort  of  craft,  and  the  total  may  number  ninety,  of  whieh  a  third 

i' 


226  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

In  October  all  things  at  last  seemed  ready.  Once 
more,  through  dim  cathedrals,  through  monasteries 
and  parish  churches  innumerable,  there  resounded 
fervent  rogations  for  the  success  of  the  Catholic 
King's  designs,  whatever  they  might  be  ;  and  again 
the  psalm  "  Contra  paganos"  was  intoned  at  Mass 
throughout  the  land.  Gradually  by  the  middle  of 
October  it  began  to  be  whispered  that  the  Bishop 
of  Killaloe  and  the  Irish  gentlemen  in  Lisbon  were 
on  board  the  fleet ;  and  it  was  assumed  that  Philip 
this  time  was  aiming  at  the  heretic  Queen  through 
Ireland,  and  not  direct  at  the  heart  of  her  realm. 
The  Irish  exiles,  with  hearts  aflame  at  the  thought 
of  their  home  and  faith,  proclaimed  to  all  who 
would  listen  how  easy  such  an  enterprise  would 
be.  Had  they  not  on  their  side,  even  now  in  arms, 
all  that  was  best  and  bravest  of  Ireland  itself? 
True,  the  Queen  of  England  held  the  two  best 
harbours,  but  many  others  hardly  less  good  were 
yearning  to  welcome  the  delivering  Catholic  fleet. 
From  the  easy  conquest  of  willing  Ireland  to  the 
domination  of  England  was  but  a  step,  and  the 
Queen  herself  knew  that  if  she  lost  Ireland  England 
must  go  too.^ 

would  be  tit  to  fight.  There  are  1 2,000  men  on  board,  including  sea- 
men. Ships  and  munitions  are  very  poor ;  there  is  a  great  lack  of 
biscuits.  Tlie  extent  of  the  preparations,  the  variety  of  the  provisions, 
and  the  anxiety  of  the  Adelantado  lead  jjeople  to  believe  that  he  is  to 
sail  as  soon  as  possible,  and  not  merely  go  to  winter  at  Ferrol,  but  may 
push  on  at  once  to  some  further  destination.  Some  conjecture  that 
Africa  will  be  the  object,  but  common  opinion  points  to  Ireland  or  England. 
.  .  .  But  nothing  certain  can  be  known  at  present,  as  all  orders  are  sent  to 
the  Adelantado  under  the  Kinrfs  own  hand, "  (Venetian  Calendar).  This 
will  show  how  completely  in  the  dark  every  one  was  as  to  Philip's 
intentions  on  the  very  eve  of  the  sailing  of  the  fleet. 
'  It  is  worth  noting  that  English   historians  have  nearly  always 


THE    NEW    ARMADA  227 

Thus  spoke  the  ardent  Celts,  and  their  enthu- 
siasm was  contagious  amongst  the  listening  lands- 
men. But  with  seamen  it  was  otherwise.  They 
saw  with  dismay  and  understood  the  meaning  of 
the  demoralisation  that  reigned  everywhere.  The 
Adelantado,  a  passionate,  impressionable  man,  wept 
and  imprecated  in  turns  at  the  apparent  impossi- 
bility of  having  everything  ready  at  the  same  time. 
Provisions  and  water  went  bad  whilst  hulls  were 
being  caulked  :  when  the  guns  were  on  board  at 
Lisbon,  the  ammunition  was  at  Ferrol  or  Seville  : 
seamen  deserted  as  soon  as  they  were  shipped,  and 
stores  dwindled  as  the  weeks  passed  on.  At  length, 
in  the  middle  of  October,  Philip's  almost  inexhaus- 
tible patience  gave  way,  as  it  had  done,  with  dis- 
astrous result,  at  the  time  of  the  first  Armada. 
Peremptory  orders  were  sent  to  I^isbon  that  the 
fleet  must  sail  at  once,  ready  or  not  ready,  and  make 
for  Ireland.  Again  the  miserable  precedent  of  the 
Armada  was  followed.  The  Adelantado  summoned 
his  captains  to  conference,  and  they  agreed  to  re- 
monstrate with  the  King  that  to  sail  then  would  be 
to  court  disaster.  The  reply  of  Philip  now  was  the 
same  as  he  gave  to  ^ledina  Sidonia  in  1588.  The 
fleet  was  to  obey  orders  and  sail,  let  the  risk  be 
what  it  might;  and  on  the  23rd  October  1596  the 
second  Spanish  Armada  beat  out  of  the  Tagus.     But 

asbumcd  that  this  fleet  was  intended  for  the  invasion  of  the  Isle  of 
Wight.  This  arose  from  the  fact  that  its  intended  destination  was 
kept  secret,  as  we  have  seen,  even  from  the  high  ofiicers  on  board. 
The  captured  Spaniards  from  various  coasting  vessels  seized  by  the 
English  during  the  winter  (1596-97)  could  only  repeat  the  common 
gossip  about  the  fleets  going  to  the  Isle  of  Wight.  The  otticial  papers 
that  I  have  quoted — and  will  (juote — in  this  book  show  thai  there  was 
never  any  idea  on  the  part  of  the  King  of  it   going  thithei'. 


228 


TREASON    AND    PLOT 


alas !  unready  still,  and,  like  its  predecessor,  it  was 
forced  to  put  into  Vigo  to  ship  more  men  and  pro- 
visions, though  we  are  told^  that  "in  order  to 
furnish  this  fleet  it  has  been  necessary  to  take  every 
sort  of  ship,  ammunition,  and  arms  that  could  be 
found  in  all  Spain." 

News  came  that  an  English  squadron  was  hovering 
off  the  coast  of  Galicia,  and  had  even  looked  into 
Vigo  Bay ;  but  it  was  evidently  no  match  for  the 
Adelantado's  united  fleet ;  and  the  latter  finally, 
on  the  27th  October,  sailed  out  of  Vigo,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Biscay  squadron  under  Zubiaur, 
which  could  not  weather  the  point  of  Bayona.'-     Off 


^  Venetian  Calendar,  November  3,  1596. 

^  The  following  is  a  statement  of  ihe  strength  of  the  fleet  as  it  left 
Lisbon  for  the  invasion  of  Ireland  : — 


Spanish  royal  ships 

Portuguese  royal  ships  ..... 

Dutch  and  German  freighted  (or  rather  pressed)  ship; 
Transports    ........ 

Caravels 


Me7i. 

The  levies  of  De  Luna 
,,  „         Lisbon 

„  „         Andalucia 

Adventurers 


Cavalry 

Adventurers  and  mercenaries 
Portuguese  ..... 
Men  on  the  Seville  squadron 
In  the  port  of  Vigo  to  be  shipped 

In  all 


Tom. 

15 

8190 

9 

6320 

f'    53 

12,643 

6 

470 

15 

450 

^ 

28,037 

Companies 

Men. 

17 

1800 

13 

1285 

16 

1635- 

78 


3410 

8130 

Men. 
360 
100 
2800 
2500 
3300 

16,590 


ANOTHER    DISASTER  229 

Finisterrc  a  great  winter  gale  swept  down  out  of 
the  bay,  and  scattered  like  husks  the  ships  that 
represented  so  many  months  of  toil  and  trouble.' 
Over  twenty  crowded  vessels  perished  in  the  storm 
with  3000  souls  on  board,  and  those  that  survived 
destruction  hustled,  as  best  they  might,  battered  and 
crippled,  into  Ferrol,  where  2000  more  men  died 
of  pestilence  in  the  next  few  days.  Pestilence,  too, 
scourged  the  Biscay  fleet  still  remaining  at  Vigo. 
The  men  on  both  fleets,  panicstricken  at  the  evil 
fortune  that  followed  them,  deserted  as  soon  as  they 
were  landed  from  the  overcrowded  floating  pest- 
houses.  Despair  again  fell  upon  all  hearts  but  one  ; 
for  the  elements  themselves  seemed  against  the 
long-suffering  King  and  the  Catholic  cause.  Out 
of  the  welter  of  misery  one  fact  stood  clearly :  that 
for  this  year,  at  least,  England  had  no  cause  for  fear 
of  any  attack  from  Spain  ;  and  the  watchers  by  the 
beacons,  who  had  stood,  like  links  of  a  chain,  on 
every  headland  along  tlie  southern  British  shore, 
slept  sound  of  nights  in  their  beds  ;  for  the  second 
Armada  had  shared  the  fate  of  the  first,  and  the 
Power  that  ruled  the  tempest  fought  still  on  the 
side  of  England. 

But  the  news  that  rejoiced  the  Protestant  English- 
men fell  like  a  death-knell  on  the  hearts  of  the 
Irish  insurgents,  who  had  looked  with  such  high 
hopes  for  the  coming  of  their  friends.     To  make  all 

'  It  was  reported  by  "an  honest  man  from  Bilbao"  (December  9, 
Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  vi.)  that  40  ships  of  war  and  12  victuallers  with 
over  4000  men  were  lost.  Other  accounts  make  the  number  of  ships 
wi-ecked  30  and  the  loss  of  life  3000  men.  Spanish  accounts  give  the 
number  of  ships  lost  as  being  "about  24." 


230  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

things  ready  for  the  reception  of  the  new  Armada, 
Captain  Cobos  had  gone  in  a  swift  caravel  from 
Corunna  to  Killibegs  some  weeks  before,  carrying 
with  him  letters  from  the  King  to  Tyrone,  O'Donnell, 
and  the  chiefs,  bidding  them  be  of  good  cheer  and 
courage,  for  help  was  now  really  at  hand.  Cobos 
arrived  at  Killibegs  harbour  on  the  26th  September, 
and  invited  O'Donnell  to  meet  him.  They  agreed 
that  the  Catholic  "Lords"  should  be  summoned  in 
formal  assembly  at  the  monastery  of  Donegal  to  hear 
the  message  frora  the  King  whom  they  had  chosen 
for  their  suzerain.  For  a  week  Cobos  remained  in 
the  harbour  of  Killibegs,  whilst  the  chiefs  gathered 
from  their  fastnesses  at  the  call  of  O'Donnell  the 
Red,  and  spies  of  the  English  eagerly  watched  the 
vSpanish  caravel  as  she  waited  for  news  of  the 
assembly. 

The  truce  between  the  Ulster  chiefs  and  the 
English  still  continued,  and  the  Connaught  men, 
with  the  exception  of  Mac  William  Bourke,  were 
holding  their  hands  until  they  should  see  what 
punishment  would  be  meted  out  by  the  Government 
to  their  terrible  persecutor,  Sir  Richard  Bingham  ; 
but  Feagh  M'Hugh  O'Byrne,  and  not  a  few  Butlers 
and  Kavanaghs  in  his  train  of  Leinster  "rabble," 
were  ravaging  the  English  Pale  well  nigh  in  sight 
of  Dublin.  False  news  came  almost  daily  of  the 
landing  of  large  bodies  of  Spanish  troops,  now  in 
O'Dogherty's  country  at  Innishowen  in  the  north 
of  Ulster,  now  at  Donegal,  now  at  Mayo,  and  else- 
where, and  the  Lord-Deputy  clamoured  in  vain  to 
the  Government  in  London  that  the  few  scattered 
English  troops  at  his  disposal  were  utterly  inadequate 


THE   IRISH   CATHOLICS  231 

to  overcome  a  powerful  incursion  of  foreigners.^ 
Tyrone  and  O'Donnell  were  still  under  arms,  wrote 
the  English  officers ;  fairly  as  O'Neil  might  speak, 
his  sincerity  was  more  than  doubtful,  and  if  the 
Spaniards  came  he  would  throw  off  the  mask."' 
Norrevs,  the  commander-in-chief,  was  at  issue  with 
the  Lord-Deputy  liussell,  for  the  soldier,  brave  and 
experienced  as  he  was,  saw  the  urgent  need  of  con- 
ciliating the  Irish  before  it  was  too  late.  He  it  was 
who  insisted  that  an  impartial  inquiry  should  be 
held  on  the  atrocities  of  which  Bingham  was  accused 
in  Connaught,  and  urged  that  even  Feagh  M'llugh, 
the  rebel  in  arms,  should  be  brought  to  some  sort 
of  "  composition,"  so  that  the  Spaniards,  when  they 
came,  might  find  the  Irish  disunited.  But  still,  said 
Norreys,  when  O'Connor  Don  informed  him  of  the 
arrival  of  Cobos  in  Killibegs,  it  would  be  well  to 
send  one  of  her  Majesty's  vessels  thither  to  capture 
the  Spanish  caravel  and  O'Donnell's  pinnace  with 
Avhich  he  communicated  with  Spain  ;  "  and  if  her 
Majesty  thinks  fit  not  to  endure  this  underhand 
dealing  of  the  Earl  and  O'Donnell,  he  will  attack 

1  Since  July  the  Irish  Government  had  continued  to  beseech  P]liza- 
beth  to  send  at  least  3000  more  foot  and  300  horse,  with  victuals, 
money,  and  ammunition.  At  the  end  of  Septembei',  when  the  coming 
of  the  strong  Spanish  fleet  was  expected  every  hour,  the  English  in 
Ireland  had  only  seventeen  barrels  of  powder  in  store. 

-  An  English  officer  wrote  the  following  news,  September  27,  O.S., 
which  gives  an  idea  of  the  distrust  then  entertained  of  Tyrone  : — "  The 
Earl  of  Tyrone  has  ridden  down  in  all  post  haste,  very  secretly,  taking 
no  more  tlian  two  men  who  can  speak  Spanish.  Before  he  went  he 
made  proclamation  in  Duugannon  that,  upon  pain  of  death,  no  man 
should  say  anything  of  the  sliips  that  were  come,  for  they  were  but 
Scottish.  I  will  not  judge  for  what  cause  is  the  Earl's  departure." 
This  refers  to  Tyrone's  hurrying  down  to  meet  Cobos,  whose  one  small 
boat  in  the  English  reports  is  magnified  to  two,  three,  nine,  and  even  a 
fleet  of  vessels. 


2  32  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

them  at  once,  and  so  handle  them  before  next  spring 
they  will  be  glad  to  renounce  the  Spaniards  ;  and 
Connaiight,  with  good  usage,  might  be  kept  from 
joining  them."  For  Norreys,  unlike  Russell,  dis- 
believed in  the  probability  of  any  Spanish  fleet  being 
able  to  attack  Ireland  at  so  advanced  a  period  of 
the  year.^  As  we  have  seen,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
providential  storm  which  caught  the  Adelantado's 
fleet  ofi"  Finisterre  on  the  28th  October,  there  would 
have  landed  early  in  November,  in  one  of  the  fine 
harbours  on  the  Irish  coast,  a  Spanish  force  very 
much  stronger  than  any  army  the  English  could 
have  brought  against  it;  and,  in  all  probability, 
Tyrone  would  then  have  been  victorious  and  Pro- 
testant England  in  deadly  peril. 

This  was  the  dangerous  state  of  afiairs  when,  on 
Sunday  the  6th  October  1596,  the  Irish  chieftains 
met  Captain  Alonso  Cobos  within  the  ancient  and 
ruinous  monastery  of  Donegal,  Jealous  eyes  watched 
and  zealous  runners  reported  to  the  English  Gover- 
nors every  movement  of  the  greater  Irish  leaders,^ 
but  we  must  go  to  Spanish  sources  to  learn  what 
happened  inside  the  closed  doors  of  the  conference 
chamber.^  Most  of  the  chieftains  who  attended 
were  still  ostensibly  at  peace  with  the  English ;  yet 
when,    after    solemn    Mass    said    by  the  Bishop    of 

1  Russell  wrote  tx)  Sir  R.  Cecil  (Irish  State  Papers),  October  2,  Rath- 
drum,  again  praying  for  reinforcements,  and  offering  his  resignation. 
Will  do  his  best  when  the  Spaniards  land,  if  they  arrive  hereabout,  as 
no  doubt  the  greatest  force  will,  but  he  leaves  the  success  to  God.  "I 
do  protest,"  he  says,  "  before  God,  that  if  the  present  forces  be  not  sent 
to  us  with  all  expedition,  all  the  English  Pale  will  be  ready  to  revolt, 
myself  not  knowing  whom  I  may  trust." 

^  Irish  State  Papers  of  the  date. 

^  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


THE    REBELS    MEET   AT    DONEGAL     233 

Raphoe,  Cobos  presented  to  them  collectively  the 
King  of  Spain's  letter  of  greeting  and  exliortation, 
and  to  Tyrone,  O'Donnell,  Cormack  O'Ncil,  Mac- 
William  O'Neil,  and  Dennis  M'Suyne,  Lord  of 
Tyrbane  and  Chief  of  Killibegs,  special  letters  of 
salutation  from  Philip  to  his  new  vassals,  each  of 
the  chiefs  raised  the  missive  to  his  brow  in  token  of 
submission,  and  swore  to  die,  if  needs  were,  "  in  the 
service  of  God  and  his  Majesty."  1  The  scene  must 
have  been  an  impressive  and  pathetic  one.  Tyrone, 
O'Donnell,  and  O'Dogherty  were  probably  dressed  in 
doublets  and  trunks  of  silk  and  velvet  and  wore  gold 
chains  around  their  shoulders,  as  Englishmen  of 
their  rank  would  have  done  ;  but  behind  them,  or 
near  at  hand,  must  have  been  their  shaggy  bands  of 
gallowglasses  with  loose,  saflron-dyed,  linen  cloaks 
and  leathern  jackets  and  brogues  for  their  garments, 
a  frowsy  fringe  of  mane  covering  their  eyebrows  for 
their  only  headdress,  and  their  crashing  battleaxes 
for  their  only  weapons.  The  minor  chiefs  and  the 
"rabble"  of  youngsters  of  chieftains'  kindred,  with 

1  Dennis  O'Rourke  and  MacWilliam  Bourke  did  not  attend  the 
meeting,  the  former  because  he  was  laid  up  with  a  gunshot  wound  in 
his  arm,  and  the  latter  "  because  of  the  great  distance  he  would  have  to 
come,  and  because  he  was  at  feud  with  a  kinsman  who  claimed  his 
chieftainship  and  land."  Tlie  kinsman  referred  to  was  the  English 
nominee.  The  chief  himself  (Theobald  M'William  Bourke)  is  usually 
referred  to  by  the  English  officers  as  "  the  supposed  or  pretended 
MacWilliam."  His  family  was  of  very  variable  attachment,  but  had  in 
the  main  kept  at  peace  with  the  English.  Theobald  was  the  son 
of  the  famous  Grace  O'Malley.  He  wrote  in  June  1596  to  Norreys 
and  Fenton  saying  that  "he  means,  if  possible,  never  to  be  otherwise 
than  a  dutiful  subject  or  to  change  his  own  natural  prince  for  any 
other  ;"  but  in  the  same  letter  he  hinted  very  strongly  that  if  the 
English  did  not  grant  him  "redress  for  injuries,"  the  chieftainship  and 
lands  of  his  house,  and  all  the  i-est  of  his  demands,  he  should  consider 
rebellion  justifiable.     (See  Irish  State  Papers  of  the  date.) 


234  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

their  flowing  yellow  mantles  over  their  armour  and 
their  swords  girt  to  their  sides,  were  the  link  between 
the  two ;  some  more  savage  than  courtly,  some  more 
courtly  than  savage.  But  prince  and  gallowglass, 
Oxford  scholar  and  barbarian  mountain  kern,  they 
were  all  Irishmen,  moved  mainly  by  two  overpower- 
ing impulses — a  fierce  love  of  battle  and  a  fine  scorn 
of  the  Sassenach. 

But  alas !  they  were  Irishmen,  too,  in  their  weak- 
ness ;  and  Cobos  reported,  when  he  came  home  to 
Spain,  that  after  the  chiefs  had  fervently  thanked 
God  and  his  Majesty  publicly  for  the  aid  and  pro- 
tection promised  to  their  land  and  faith,  "  each  one 
took  me  aside  separately  to  assure  me  that  he  and 
his  folk  would  be  the  first  to  join  the  Spanish  force 
when  it  arrived."  "  I  spoke  to  O'Neil  and  O'Don- 
nell  apart,"  wrote  Cobos  to  the  King,  "  and  said 
that  at  last  the  hour  they  had  longed  for  had  come, 
and  that  before  winter  set  in,  the  succour  they  had 
so  often  requested  would  be  there.  I  urged  them  to 
set  about  making  what  raids  they  could  to  show 
their  zeal,  and  also  to  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments secretly  for  the  reception  of  our  force.  They 
thanked  his  Majesty,  and  said  that  they  were  always 
ready  and  waiting,  like  the  faithful  vassals  they 
were.  They  would  never  fail  in  their  promises. 
Secrecy  was  as  important,  they  said,  to  them  as  to 
us.  They  had  been  playing  fast  and  loose  with  the 
enemy  for  a  long  time,  awaiting  his  Majesty's  aid, 
and  a  fortnight  ago  the  English  came  with  1500 
footmen  and  600  horse  into  their  lands  to  force  them 
to  make  peace.  .  ,  .  Norreys  left  off  fighting  and 
tried  to  make  terms,  but  they  would  only  consent  to 


THE    MEETING   OF   THE   CHIEFS      235 

a  truce  for  a  month  and  a  day.  All  this  was  solely 
to  await  your  Majesty's  succour,  whilst  they  pre- 
vented the  Queen  from  sending  more  forces.  I 
asked  them  where  would  !;8  the  best  place  to  land 
the  troops,  to  be  most  effectual  and  safe  for  faci- 
litating the  junction  of  the  forces.  They  thought 
on  the  north-west  coast,  such  a  place  as  Galway, 
where  there  is  a  company  of  English  in  garrison  for 
the  last  three  months.  The  town  is  close  to  the 
lands  of  MacWilliam  Bourke,  and  will  surrender  the 
moment  a  fleet  approaches,  if  weather  forces  the 
fleet  into  St.  George's  Channel,  they  think  it  should 
anchor  in  Carlingford,  thirty  Irish  miles  from 
Dublin,  where  they  will  be  in  touch  with  CNeill's 
people.     All  the  north  is  friendly." 

Then  followed  a  closely  detailed  description  of 
the  state  of  the  country  from  a  military  point  of  view, 
which  tallies  almost  exactly  with  the  accounts  to  be 
found  in  the  English  State  Papers.  Every  English 
garrison  is  enumerated,  and  the  total  strength  of 
English  troops  in  the  island  appears  to  have  been 
4000  infantry  and  600  cavalry.  How  great  was  the 
danger  then  imminent,  with  a  Spanish  fleet  carrying 
more  than  double  that  number  of  men,  only  waiting 
for  a  fair  wind  to  sail  for  Ireland,  will  be  apparent, 
and  the  despondency  of  Russell  was  fully  justified. 
Nothing  was  omitted  by  Philip  to  gain  the  good-will 
of  the  chiefs.  Not  only  were  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell 
addressed  in  autograph  letters  full  of  flattering 
expressions,  but  two  similar  letters  with  the  address 
in  blank  were  entrusted  to  Cobos,  with  which  to 
gratify  such  other  chiefs  as  be  thought  would  be 
most  useful.     He   was  extremely  diplomatic  in  his 


236  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

use  of  the  letters,  and  handed  them  respectively  to 
two  important  Ulstermen,  who  had  usually  been 
friendly  to  the  English,  though  both  of  them  had 
rescued  and  relieved  some  of  the  fugitives  from  the 
wrecks  of  the  Armada  ships  in  1588,  "One  of  the 
letters  your  Majesty  gave  me  without  superscription 
I  gave  to  a  gentleman  named  O'Dogherty/  a  lord  of 
many  vassals,  a  great  soldier  and  greatly  esteemed, 
who  said  he  was  anxious  to  prove  his  loyalty  by  his 
acts.  The  other  I  gave  to  a  gentleman  named  James 
Oge  M'Sorleyboy,  a  Scotsman,  who  holds  some  ports 
on  this  coast  opposite  Scotland.  He  is  a  good 
soldier  and  very  brave.  He  was  neutral  when  I 
arrived  previously,  but  is  now  a  great  friend  of  the 
Catholic  chiefs,  and  they  thought  he  would  be  flat- 
tered at  your  Majesty's  writing  to  him."  ^ 

The  meeting,  however,  did  not  pass  without  some 
little  unpleasantness.  It  will  be  recollected  that  the 
letter  that  Cobos  had  brought  from  Philip  to  Tyrone 
on  his  previous  visit  to  Ireland  had  been  "lent  to 
Norreys,"  not  to  be  copied,  but  simply  to  prove  how 
the  Spaniards  were  courting  him  (Tyrone),  and  how 
irreproachably  loyal  he  was  in  spurning  their  ad- 
vances. One  of  the  other  chiefs  secretly  told  Cobos 
that  Tyrone  had  sent  the  King's  letter  to  the 
Sassenach  ;  and  the  Spaniard,  distrustful  of  what 
certainly  looked  like  treachery,  taxed  Tyrone  with 

1  He  was  an  English  knight,  and  the  English  called  hiiu  Sir  John 
O'Doherty. 

2  This  was  the  son  of  the  famous  Sorleyboy  M'Donnell,  Lord  of 
Dunluce  and  joint  Lord  of  the  Route,  who  had  so  sturdily  helped  the 
shipwrecked  men  from  the  Armada.  He  was  not  present  at  the 
meeting,  the  letter  being  canied  to  him  by  Hugh  Boy  O'Davitt,  after- 
Avards  Tyrone's  envoy  to  Spain. 


THE    MEETING   OF   THE   CHIEFS      237 

it,  saying  that  the  King  had  heard  of  it  in  Spain. 
Tyrone  explained  the  matter  truly  enough,  saying 
that  he  had  acted  as  he  did  in  order  to  deceive  the 
English  and  make  them  believe  in  his  loyalty  until 
the  Spaniards  came  ;  but  Cobos  was  still  indignant, 
and  "  warned  them  to  keep  their  promises  better 
for  the  future."  ^  The  chiefs,  in  their  turn,  were 
anxious  to  know  what  had  happened  at  Cadiz, 
"  for  the  enemy  said  that  Essex  had  sacked  and 
plundered  the  city  and  burnt  the  fleet."  "  I/'  says 
Cobos,  "  replied  that  they,  being  neighbours  of  the 
English,  should  know  better  than  any  one  that,  in 
order  to  bring  about  peace  in  Ireland,  they  would 
invent  all  manner  of  lies.  It  was  true,  I  said,  that 
they  had  sacked  Cadiz,  thanks  to  the  weakness  of 
the  townspeople,  but  they  did  not  wait  to  encounter 
any  force,  and  only  made  incursions  on  unprotected 
places,  and  ran  away  as  quickly  as  they  could." 
And  so,  leaving  the  Irishmen  full  of  hope  for  the 

^  The  letter  was  entrusted  by  Tyrone  to  Captain  Warren,  who  was 
the  officer  usually  employed  to  communicate  with  him.  Warren  pro- 
duced it  to  the  Irish  Privy  Council,  who  declined  to  return  it,  and  not 
only  broke  the  pledge  given  to  Tyrone  that  it  should  not  even  be 
copied,  but  sent  the  original  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  took  care  to 
liave  it  conveyed  to  Philip,  in  proof  of  the  falsity  of  Tyrone.  'I'he 
latter  and  O'Donnell  constantly  referred  to  this  action  as  proving  how 
little  they  could  trust  the  En^dish.  Norreys  wrote  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil 
in  July  1596,  when  there  was  a  talk  of  Tyrone  going  to  England,  and 
.sending  his  son  to  the  Earl  of  Essex  to  be  educated.  "  I'liis  he 
(Tyrone)  hath  deferred  as  he  answereth  upon  detaining  the  King  of 
Spain's  letter  :  and  this  I  will  assure  your  Plonour,  that  there  is  not 
the  basest  rogue  of  a  rebel  in  Ireland  that  hath  not  ordinarily  in  his 
uiouth  how  they  may  trust  us  with  their  lives,  when  the  Earl  was 
deceived  in  trusting  the  Lord-Deputy  but  with  a  letter.  O'Donnell  did 
swear  that  if  that  letter  had  not  been  detained,  either  he  or  the  Earl 
had  been  in  England  before  Michaelmas"  (Irish  State  Papeis).  We 
may  doubt  this  last  assertion  of  O'Dounell's,  in  view  ol  the  Spanish 
accounts  now  before  us. 


238  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

speedy  coming  of  the  great  force  which  was  on  the 
way  to  free  Ireland  and  make  England  Catholic, 
Captain  Cobos  left  Donegal  on  the  9th  October  to 
join  his  pinnace  at  Killibegs,  carrying  Avith  him  an 
interesting  sheaf  of  letters  for  Spain/  Nearly  every- 
body with  whom  Cobos  had  come  into  contact  in 
Ireland  wanted  some  separate  favour  for  himself. 
The  Franciscan  friars  at  Donegal  wished  for  money 
to  repair  the  ruin  of  their  monastery  by  the  English 
soldiery,  and  some  chalices  and  church  ornaments. 
Hugh  Boy  O'Davitt  asked  for  a  pension  ;  Cobos  him- 
self petitioned  for  a  captain's  pay  as  well  as  the 
rank,  and  Cormack  O'Neil  wanted  so  much  as  to 
fill  a  long  letter  with  his  petition."  Tyrone  and 
O'Donnell  are  mainly  concerned  in  the  prompt 
coming  of  succour ;  but  the  former,  in  a  fervent 
letter  to  the  King,  explains  the  circumstances  which 
led  him  to  send  Philip's  former  letter  to  the  English, 
and  concludes  thus  :  "In  the  name  of  God,  and  by 
my  holy  baptism,  I  assert  that  I  did  not  send  the 
letter  to  the  Viceroy,  except  for  the  above-mentioned 

^  AmoBgst  these  was  one  of  extreme  interest,  which  I  transcribed  at 
Simancas.  Ithiis  no  special  bearini,^  upon  the  subject  of  this  book,  but 
I  cannot  help  referring  to  it.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  liumble,  illiterate 
petition,  written  and  signed  by  eight  Spanish  soldiers,  who,  having 
escaped  from  the  massacre  of  the  shipwrecked  men  from  the  Armada, 
had  lived  in  the  territories  of  O'Neil  and  O'Donnell  ever  since.  They 
humbly  pray  for  some  wages  or  aid  "  to  fit  out  their  persons  and  arm^, 
better  to  serve  his  Majesty  as  guides,  interpreters,  or  otherwise,  when  the 
Spanish  force  lands."  These  same  men  had  earnestly  prayerl  Cobos, 
when  he  came  to  Ireland  some  months  previously,  to  take  them  back 
with  him  to  Spain,  but  he  had  refused,  and  told  them  they  would  be 
required  as  interpreters  if  a  Spanish  force  were  sent. 

2  «'  Your  Lordsliip,"  he  wrote  to  Idiaquez,  "  has  done  me  great  honour, 
and  now  I  beg  you  to  favour  me  as  follows.  For  I  have  always  fought 
against  the  English  for  the  Catholic  faith,  and  if  God  give  me  health  I 
will  devote  the  rest  of  my  life  to  his  Majesty's  service.     I  have  many 


DISAPPOINTMENT   OF   THE   IRISH     239 

reasons  ;  and  I  pray  your  Majesty  to  pardon  me, 
without  distrust  or  misgiving.— Donegal,  8th  October, 
1 596.'  A  few  days  afterwards,  Cobos  sailed  from 
M'Suyne's  harbour  of  Killibcgs,  arriving  in  Spain 
shortly  before  the  disaster  already  described  to  the 
invading  fleet,  and  the  letters  and  reports  that  the 
Captain  submitted  to  his  sorely-tried  sovereign  at  the 
Pardo  on  the  20th  November  were  but  as  Dead  Sea 
fruit  to  Philip,  for  Heaven  was  still  against  him,  and 
no  Armada  of  his  could  go  to  Ireland  that  year. 

Week  after  week  the  Irish  chieftains  watched  with 
straining  eyes  for  the  coming  of  their  deliverers. 
They  had  gone  too  far  now  easily  to  draw  back, 
and  O'Donnell  had  come  down  into  Connaught  with 
his  clansmen  to  join  the  Spaniards  when  they  should 
sail  into  Galway  harbour.  Famine  was  stalking 
abroad  through  Ireland,  even  in  the  Pale,  and  the 
English  garrisons  themselves  lacked  food.  The  Lord- 
Deputy,  Norreys,  and  Fenton  prayed  and  suppli- 
cated the  politicians  in  London  to  send  men,  money, 
food,  and  arms ;  ^  "  for  nothing  but  force  will  serve 

witnesses  who  will  bear  testimony  to  what  I  have  done  against  the 
heretics  in  all  times  past ;  and  I  do  hope  to  God  that  his  ^lajesty  will 
remember  me  for  these  lands  ;"  and  then  follows  a  long  list  of  estates 
which  Cormack  O'Neil  covets.  "  I  beg  you  to  ask  his  Majesty  for  all 
these  for  me,  as  I  have  well  deserved  them,  fighting  against  the  En;^- 
lish.  I  also  ask  you  to  beg  his  Majesty  to  please  supply  me  with  400 
infantry  and  100  cavalry  for  his  Majesty's  service,  as  I  have  great  ex- 
perience in  this  country."  This  characteristic  letter  is  badly  written  in 
illiterate  Spanish  by  one  of  the  wrecked  Spanish  soldiers,  and  is  signed 
by  Cormack  O'Neil  in  stift",  high-drawn  Irish  characters,  like  a  row 
of  pikes  (Simancas  jMSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.). 

1  The  constant  complaint  of  the  Irish  Government  was  that  tli't  men 
sent  from  England  were  utterly  unserviceable.  Bingham,  Fenton, 
Norreys,  and  all  the  experienced  commanders  referred  to  them  constantly 
as  "  poor  old  ])louglimen,"  "  rogues,"  "  runaways."  Bingham  says  of  one 
draught  that  ''many  were  diseased  and  many   mad;"   and  Norreys 


240  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

now,"  wrote  Russell  in  January.     Armagh  was  sur- 
rounded by  rebels  and  in  danger  of  starvation,  and 
news  came  that  the  Spanish  fleet  was  still  in  being, 
and  might  sail  again.     But  Tyrone  at  length  saw 
that  he  was  resting  upon  a  broken  reed,  and  the 
talk  of  "  composition  "  and  "pledges"  began  again. 
Norreys    collected    such    forces    as    were    available, 
and  marched  to  re-victual  Armagh  in  the  middle  of 
January  1597.    When  he  reached  Dundalk,  he  found 
Tyrone  holding  the  passes  between  that  town  and 
Newry  to  contest  his  passage,  but  when  the  rebel 
saw  that  Norreys  really  meant  business,  he  suddenly 
changed  his  attitude  and  sent  loyal  messages  to  the 
English  general.     At  first  he  wished  to  make  con- 
ditions   about    the   pardon   of  Feagh  M'Hugh,   but 
nothing  short  of  unconditional  submission  would  do 
for  Norreys  ;  and  the  next  day  the  two  commanders 
met,  with  a  little  shallow  rivulet  only  running  be- 
tween them,  not  a  gunshot  away  from  the  English 
camp.      "  There,"  says  Norreys,  "he  made  vehement 
protestations  of  loyalty,  taking  God  and  heaven  to 
witness.  .  .   .  His  outward  shows  are  fair,  and  his 
oaths  deep  and  vehement,  but  we  cannot  tell  if  his 
heart  and  inward  meaning  are  agreeable,  considering 
how  often  he  has  slipped  before."  ^     Hostages  were 
sent,  pledges  were  given  ;  Tyrone  was  loyalty  itself 
in  protestation,  though  few  people  believed  him,  and 
those  who  were  inclined  to  do  so,  like  Norreys  and 

wrote  of  another  that  uot  twenty  men  out  of  two  companies  were  likely 
to  prove  good  soldiers.  They  were  indeed  the  mere  scourings  of  the 
jails,  gutters,  and  hospitals  ;  and  the  Irish  levies  in  the  English  service, 
excellent  soldiers,  but  distrusted  on  account  of  their  nationality,  were 
really  the  mainstay  of  English  power  in  Ireland. 

1  Norreys,  &c.,to  the  Privy  Council,  Drogheda,  January  24,  1597. 


O'DONNELL    HOLDS   OUT  24 1 

Fenton,  deplored  the  facility  with  which  he  was 
led  by  those  who  were  thought  to  be  more  deeply 
pledged  to  the  Spaniards  than  himself,  especially  his 
brother,  Cormack  O'Neil,  and  O'Donnell. 

Though  Tyrone,  as  paramount  J*riuce  of  Ulster 
and  "great  O'Neil,"  claimed  sway  over  his  associated 
chiefs,  his  own  devout  lip-service  to  the  English 
Queen  found  but  slight  echo  in  the  haughty  Hugh 
O'Donnell  and  the  Connaught  men,  who,  in  spite  of 
friend  and  foe,  stood  through  the  winter  (1596-97), 
armed  and  waiting,  often  almost  at  the  gates  of 
Galway,  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards,  who  came 
not.  Whilst  O'Donnell,  O'Rourke,  MacWilliam,  and 
MacDermot  held  all  Connaught  outside  the  walled 
towns,  and  Feagh  M'Hugh  O'Byrne  ravaged  Leinster 
at  his  will,  the  English  governors  of  Ireland,  in  the 
deepest  despondency  at  the  impossibility  of  obtain- 
ing the  needed  resources  from  England,  were  quar- 
relling and  mutually  recriminating  with  each  other 
at  the  general  helplessness  ;  and  Philip,  in  his  for- 
bidding granite  palace  in  the  mountains  far  away, 
was  stolidly  toiling  at  the  smallest  details  of  another 
great  expedition,  that  surely,  he  thought,  before  he 
died,  should  make  him  sovereign  of  Ireland,  with 
the  future  fate  of  England  in  his  hands.  Then 
indeed  all  would  be  well  with  his  beloved  Spain, 
and  his  weary  lifework  would  be  done. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

Fears  of  a  Spanish  invasion  of  England — English  preparations — Essex's 
voyage — Lopez  de  Soto's  letters — Strength  of  the  Adelantado's  fleet 
(i  597) — Its  inglorious  return  to  Spain — Renewed  appeal  of  the  Irish 
rebels  to  Spain — Tyrone's  discontent  with  the  Spaniards — Another 
truce  with  Tyrone. 

In  the  last  chapter  we  have  seen  how  extremely 
perilous  was  the  position  of  the  English  in  Ireland 
at  the  opening  of  the  year  1597.  This,  however, 
was  not  by  any  means  the  only  point  at  which 
danger  seemed  to  threaten  from  Spain,  and  the 
slowness  of  the  Queen  and  her  Ministers  in  respond- 
ing to  the  uroent  demands  of  the  commanders  in 
Ireland  for  warlike  resources  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that  in  the  view  of  Englishmen  at  the  centre  of 
government  the  first  duty  was  to  provide  against 
the  possibility  of  a  successful  attack  upon  the  heart 
of  the  nation  itself;  and,  moreover,  the  intelligence 
they  received  gave  them  the  incorrect  belief  that  the 
main  Spanish  attack  in  1596  was  to  be  on  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  the  Irish  expedition  being  only  a  diver- 
sion.^ Public  opinion  in  England  was  indeed  pro- 
foundly impressed  by  the  supposed  imminence  of  a 
renewed  attempt  at  the  invasion  and  conquest  of  the 
country  by  a  foreign  force,  and  the  breach  between 
the   two   sections  of  Catholics  was   in  consequence 

1  As  I  have  pointed  out  in  a  previous  note,  this  erroneous  belief  has 
survived  to  the  present  day. 


FEELING    IN   ENGLAND  243 

ever  widening.^  "Would  to  God,"  wrote  one  loyal 
Catholic  to  Lord  Burghley,  "  that  lier  Majesty  would 
grant  toleration  of  religion,  whereby  men's  minds 
would  be  appeased  and  join  all  in  defence  of  our 
country"  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  vii.),  as  had  been 
the  case  in  France  by  the  granting  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes.  But  religious  animus  had  been  stirred  to 
its  lowest  depth  by  contending  politicians,  and  it 
suited  Elizabeth  and  her  Ministers  to  affect  a  dis- 
belief in  the  patriotism  of  all  Catholics.  So  the 
game  of  priest-hunting  and  recusant-bating  went  on 
as  briskly  as  before,  because  it  strung  up  the  indig- 
nation of  the  majority  to  the  war  pitch  and  frightened 
waverers  into  the  Protestant  camp.  The  Essex  war 
party  had  now  quite  gained  the  upper  hand  in  the 
counsels  of  the  Queen.  Kalegh  and  Essex  had  for 
once  patched  up  their  quarrels,  and  the  Cecil  interest 

*  Amongst  Lord  Burghley's  papers  there  is,  for  instance,  a  long  and 
able  Latin  paper  written  at  this  juncture,  apparently  by  Dr.  Wright, 
Dean  of  Courtrai,  one  of  the  fugitives  in  Flanders,  discussing  pro  and 
con  the  question  as  to  whether  it  is  licit  for  Catholics  in  England  to 
oppose  by  arms  and  otherwise  an  attack  upon  the  country  by  Spain. 
The  conclusion  arrived  at  is  that  English  Catholics  are  in  duty  bound 
to  protect  their  country  against  any  foreigner  whatsoever,  and  the 
author,  pensioner  though  he  was  of  Philip,  expresses  doubt  as  to  the 
sincerity  of  the  King's  profession  that  his  concern  was  mainly  for  the 
Catholic  religion  (Appendix  to  Strype's  "  Annals,"  a'oI.  iii.).  See  also  an 
interesting  letter  from  an  English  Catholic  fugitive  to  the  Queen  (Hat- 
tield  Papers,  vol.  vii.  p.  34),  written  in  January  1 597,  begging  her  to  con- 
form to  the  Catholic  faith,  but  expressing  undj'ing  loyalty  to  her.  In 
the  same  collection  (p.  86)  there  is  a  letter  written  by  Harry  Constable, 
a  Catholic  from  Paris,  to  the  Earl  of  Essex  (February  1597),  protesting 
his  loyalty,  and  saying  that  he  has  written  to  Rome  to  dissuade  the  Pope 
from  giving  credit  to  those  English  Catholics  who  favour  the  designs  of 
Spain.  This,  he  said,  was  the  wish  of  most  Englislimen  in  Eonie,  and 
it  was  suggested  that  loyal  English  Catholics  abroad  shottld  bind  them- 
selves by  oath  to  oppose  all  violent  proceedings  under  the  guise  of 
religion. 


244  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

almost  for  the  first  time  smiled  upon  the  Earl's  war- 
like ardour. 

For  during  Essex's  absence  on  the  Cadiz  expe- 
ditions, Sir  Robert  Cecil  had  at  last  received  the 
Secretaryship  which  he  had  coveted  so  long,  and 
everything  had  gone  smoothly.  The  Earl's  rashness 
and  irascibility  also  exposed  him  in  every  expedition 
to  mistakes  which  on  his  return  irritated  the  Queen 
against  him.  All  this  suited  the  Cecils,  and  instead 
of  opposing  Essex,  they  were  now  willing  that  he 
should  have  his  way.  At  least  they  would  be  relieved 
of  his  jealous  ill-temper  and  the  constant  discord  he 
created  at  court.  As  usual,  his  plan  was  to  strike  a 
hard  blow  at  Spain  before  England  could  be  attacked  ; 
but  the  soldiers  differed  from  the  seamen  as  to  how 
or  where  the  blow  should  be  dealt.  The  recent 
traditions  of  England  pointed  to  another  naval  ex- 
pedition, similar  to  that  of  the  previous  year,  only 
now  directed  against  the  north-western  ports,  where 
Philip's  new  armada  was  being  laboriously  fitted  out ; 
but  Essex  had  usually  been  in  favour  of  land  attack. 
The  Spaniards  had  captured  Calais  before  his  eyes 
only  a  year  before,  and  even  now  the  harbour  was 
filled  with  flat-bottomed  flyboats,  which  threatened 
an  invasion  of  England.  The  King  of  France,  too, 
offered  the  Queen  the  possession  of  Calais  if  she 
could  wrest  it  from  the  Spaniards,  though  we  may 
be  quite  certain  that  there  was  a  reservation  behind 
the  Bearnais'  proposal,  and  the  soldiers  clamoured 
unanimously  for  a  great  land  army  to  be  sent  from 
England  to  capture  again  England's  ancient  gate  to 
the  Continent.  Sir  Francis  Vere  especially  urged 
Essex  to  undertake  this  task  with  adequate  forces, 


ESSEX'S   FLEET,    1597  245 

as    being    the    surest    way    to    cripple    and    disable 
Spain. 

But  there  were  other  considerations.  All  the 
recent  glory  of  England,  all  her  new-born  potency 
and  increasing  wealth,  had  been  gained  on  the  sea ; 
the  people  themselves  were  stirred  at  the  idea  of 
naval  adventure  and  abundant  loot ;  and  the  cost 
of  fitting  out  a  fleet  would  be  largely  met  by 
"adventurers"  on  the  chance  of  private  gain; 
whereas  the  Queen  herself  would  have  to  pay  the 
entire  cost  of  an  army.  Ralegh,  now  hand-in-glove 
with  Essex  for  a  time,  wrote  a  masterly  essay  called 
"  Opinion  on  the  Spanish  Alarum,"  in  which  he 
quite  correctly  expressed  incredulity  of  an  attack 
in  force  upon  England,  but  strongly  advocated  the 
fitting  out  of  a  fleet  sufficient  for  protection  and 
oflence.  Ten  ships  were  hastily  put  into  com- 
mission for  the  protection  of  the  coast  (February 
1597),  but  as  alarmist  news  came  from  the  spies 
of  the  vast  preparations  being  made  in  Ferrol  for 
the  sailing  of  a  Spanish  Armada,^  Essex's  mind  was 
made  up,  and  he  threw  his  influence  on  the  side  of 

1  Sir  Robert  Sidney  wrote  from  Flusliing  to  E^sex,  April  14,  1597, 
that  Philip  liad  ordered  the  construction  of  twenty-eight  ships  of 
800  tons  each,  and  had  sent  50,000  ducats  to  begin  the  work.  One 
thousand  soldiers,  he  reported,  had  been  sent  to  Ferrol  to  be  embarked 
for  Brittany  and  Calais  to  make  war  upon  England  in  the  summer, 
and  he  speaks  of  other  preparations  in  the  Spanish  ports  (Hatfield 
Papers,  vol.  vii.).  Sir  Edward  Norreys  wrote  in  the  same  month  from 
Ostend  of  the  powerful  Armada  in  preparation,  with  great  levies  of 
troops  of  all  nationalities  to  attack  England.  There  were  twenty  great 
ships,  he  said,  at  Corunna,  sent  by  the  Pope  and  the  Italian  princes, 
ready  to  sail  with  the  first  wind.  "  They  prepare  40,000,  wherewith 
they  have  swallowed  up  the  poor  island  of  England  in  their  conceit " 
(ilnd.,  p.  1 87).  This,  as  we  shall  see,  was  untrue,  but  it  greatly  disturbed 
people  in  England. 


246  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

the  sailors,  though  to  Sir  Francis  Vere's  openly- 
expressed  disgust  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  vii.  p.  212). 
Essex  laboured  diligently,  beset  with  many  diffi- 
culties, mainly  born  of  the  Queen's  parsimony,  to 
commission  and  provision  his  new  fleet.  Soldiers 
were  pressed  with  difficulty,  for  already  the  levies 
for  Holland  and  Picardy  had  weighed  heavily  upon 
the  adult  male  population  of  the  south  and  east 
coast;  but  at  length  in  June  Essex  found  himself 
in  command  of  a  fleet  consisting  of  three  squadrons, 
one  under  his  immediate  orders,  another  under  Lord 
Thomas  Howard,  and  the  third  under  Ralegh.^ 
Besides  these  experienced  couimanders  the  best  of 
the  young  Protestant  nobility  were  included  in  the 
officers  on  board."  There  are  twenty  Queen's  ships, 
ten  Dutch  men-of-war,  and  a  large  number  of  mer- 
chant ships  and  victuallers,  the  entire  force  consisting 
of  120  sail  with  5000  soldiers  on  board.      Essex's 

^  The  Lord  Admiral  Howard  declined  to  take  part  in  the  command 
of  the  expedition,  in  consequence  of  his  discontent  at  his  share  of  the 
plunder  of  Cadiz.  He  was  not  well  pleased  either  at  Essex's  behaviour 
towards  him,  tliough  the  deadly  quarrel  between  them  did  not  take 
place  until  the  return  of  the  expedition  of  1 597. 

2  John  Chamberlain  wrote  to  Dudley  Carleton  on  the  11/21  June  : 
"  We  have  great  preparations  here  for  a  sea  viage  which  troubles  our 
discoursers  how  or  where  it  shal  be  imployed.  The  common  sort  of  talke 
of  Calais,  others  of  the  island  Terceira,  but  most  likelie  in  my  opinion 
is  set  upon  the  King  of  Spaine's  navy  wheresoever  they  can  find  it 
or  meet  with  the  Indian  fleet.  Theire  whole  number  consists  of 
fifteen  Queene's  shippes  besides  the  two  Spanish  shippes  that  were 
taken  last  yeare  (which  be  new  fashioned  after  the  English  manner) 
and  of  two  and  twentie  men  of  warre  of  Holland  and  8ome  foure 
and  twenty  fiyboats  for  carriage  of  men  and  victuals.  They  have  with 
them  4000  prest  men  and  1200  muskettiers  that  come  with  Sir  Francis 
Vere  out  of  Holland."  It  will  be  seen  that  the  official  accounts  of  the 
strength  of  the  expedition  differ  somewhat  from  Chamberlain,  but  the 
former  is  most  likely  to  be  correct  (John  Chamberlain's  Letters, 
Camden  Society). 


ESSEX'S   FLEET    DRIVEN    BACK       247 

commission  was  strictly  confined  to  the  destruction 
of  the  Spanish  fleet  in  Ferrol,  or  wherever  he  might 
find  it,  but  failure  dogged  him  from  the  first. 
Alternate  calms  and  contrary  gales  kept  him  for  a 
fortnight  between  the  Downs  and  Plymouth,  then 
supplies  ran  short  and  victuals  went  bad,  and  Essex 
was  obliged  to  send  Fulke  Greville  to  the  Queen  to 
beseech  her  "  of  her  princely  wisdom  "  to  grant  them 
another  month's  provisions.^  This  with  some  demur 
being  granted,  Essex  again  grew  hopeful ;  but  such 
a  summer  "  as  was  never  seen  by  man  "  raged  in  the 
Channel,  and  although  Essex  managed  to  sail  out  of 
Plymouth  on  the  loth  July,  he  encountered  during 
the  next  ten  days  such  foul  weather  as  to  reduce  him 
to  despair.  The  squadrons  were  scattered,  and  more 
than  once  the  commanders  "gave  themselves  up  to 
God."  At  length  Essex's  squadron,  battered,  crippled, 
and  disabled,  regained  Plymouth,  whilst  Ralegh's 
ships,  in  even  worse  case,  sought  shelter  in  Falmouth. 
Lord  Thomas  Howard's  squadron  crossed  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  almost  to  the  Spanish  coast,  but  he  too  was 
driven  back  and  returned  to  England." 

London  was  panicstricken  at  the  disaster ;  for  all 
men  had  been  told  that  the  Adelantado's  fleet  might 
appear  on  the  English  coast  at  any  time ;  but  the 
Queen,  through  her  fears,  wept  for  joy  when  she 
learned  that  Essex  and  Ralegh  at  least  were  safe  ;  and 
even  the  Lord  x'^dmiral  earnestly  prayed  the  former 
to  return  post  haste  to  court,^  where,  he  says,  "  we 
are  like  a  naked  flock  without  a  shepherd."     Again 

^  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  vii. 

2  State  Papers,  Domestic,  Ralegh  to  Cecil,  July  1 8,  1 597. 

^  State  Papers,  Domestic,  cclxiv. 


248  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

the  hard  task  of  persuading  the  Queen  to  spend  the 
necessary  money  to  refit  the  fleet,  to  allow  her 
favourite  to  leave  her,  and  to  undertake  the  respon- 
sibility of  attacking  Spain,  had  to  be  done  afresh. 
Essex  and  Ralegh  went  to  court,  and  together  joined 
their  prayers  ;  but  they  found  the  Queen  more  frac- 
tious than  ever.  The  season  was  far  advanced,  the 
enemy  was  now  on  the  alert,  and  she  positively 
refused  to  allow  her  men  and  ships  to  be  exposed  to 
risk.  After  much  tearful  begging,  Essex  at  length 
persuaded  her,  for  his  own  honour's  sake,  to  allow 
him  to  sail  to  the  Spanish  coast  with  a  reduced 
force,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  sending  some  fire- 
ships  into  Ferrol  harbour  and  burning  the  Spanish 
vessels  there.  But  to  make  quite  sure  that  he  did 
no  more  than  this,  the  Queen  insisted  upon  his 
landing  all  the  English  troops  but  the  veterans 
from  Holland  before  he  sailed,  and  he  had  to  pledge 
himself  to  her  on  his  honour  not  to  venture  one 
of  her  ships  or  himself  into  Ferrol.  Ralegh 
might  enter  the  harbour  if  he  pleased,  but  Essex 
was  to  remain  outside,  or  he  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  sail  at  all.  Fretful,  discontented,  and 
peevish,  the  Earl  was  forced  to  obey,  and  finally, 
on  the  17th  August,  he  sailed  again  with  his  cur- 
tailed force. 

Once  more  a  terrible  westerly  gale  assailed  him 
in  the  Bay,  and  disabled  the  great  San  Mateo,  the 
Spanish  prize  he  had  captured  at  Cadiz.  She  was 
obliged,  in  a  water-logged  condition,  to  stagger  back 
to  England  as  best  she  might,  whilst  the  rest  of  the 
fleet,  disheartened  and  damaged,  was  at  length  swept 
out  of  the  Bay  by  an  easterly  gale  which  efi'ectually 


FAILURE   OF   ESSEX'S   FLEET         249 

prevented  any  of  the  ships  from  approaching  Ferrol. 
Ralegh  and  his  squadron  of  thirty  sail  was  lost  sight 
of  altogether.  The  next  day  (August  24),  Essex 
received  false  news  from  one  of  lialegh's  captains  to 
the  eUect  that  the  Spanish  fleet  had  already  sailed 
out  of  Ferrol  under  the  Adelantado  to  the  Azores, 
for  the  purpose  of  escorting  the  treasure-fleet  home  ; 
and  on  the  faith  of  this  Essex  sailed  at  once  towards 
Terceira,  sending  despatch-boats  to  order  Ralegh  to 
follow  him.  Through  some  blunder  the  latter  re- 
mained for  a  week  longer  on  the  Portuguese  coast, 
whilst  Essex  awaited  him  at  Flores.  There  the 
commander-in-chief  was  informed  that  the  treasure- 
fleet  was,  after  all,  not  coming  that  way,  and  when 
Ralegh  at  length  joined  him,  it  was  decided  to  sail 
for  Fayal  and  St.  Michael's  to  endeavour  to  intercept 
the  Indian  flotillas  there.  Ralegh  lost  sight  of  his 
chief  and  reached  Fayal  first,  and,  after  waiting 
three  days,  imprudently  took  upon  himself  to  cap- 
ture and  plunder  the  island,  greatly  to  Essex's  indig- 
nation when  he  arrived  the  following  day,  and  bad 
blood  was  again  brewed  between  the  rival  favourites. 
The  fleet  remained  at  sea  a  month  longer  in  the 
hope  of  meeting  the  treasure-ships,  but  in  vain, 
and  came  back  to  Plymouth,  October  26,  with  only 
three  rich  merchantmen  as  prizes,  barely  sufficient 
to  cover  the  cost  of  the  expedition.  Black  looks 
greeted  Essex  at  court,  for  he  had  not  performed 
or  seriously  attempted  either  of  the  tasks  for  which 
he  went,  the  pecuniary  result  of  his  eff"orts  was  in- 
.significant,  and,  worst  of  all,  whilst  he  had  been 
beguiled  by  false  information  to  sail  on  his  wild- 
goose  chase  to  the  Azores,  the  Adelantado  with  the 


250  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

dreaded  Armada  of  Spain  had  been  almost  within 
sight  of  the  English  coast. ^ 

No  more  vivid  picture  can  be  found  of  the  utter 
demoralisation  which  had  taken  possession  of  Spanish 
officialdom  than  that  presented  in  the  series  of 
papers  and  letters  now  in  the  British  Museum"' relat- 
ing to  the  preparations  for  the  great  Armada,  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  in  1597  created  so  much  alarm  in 
England.  They  are  mainly  the  letters  and  reports 
of  Pedro  Lopez  de  Soto,  the  Secretary  of  the  Ade- 
lantado  of  Castile,  who  was  to  command  the  fleet ; 
and  their  perusal  enables  us  to  understand  fully, 
for  the  first  time,  the  almost  insuperable  difficulties 
"vvhich  Philip's  system  had  created  for  himself. 
Lopez  de  Soto  was  the  executive  officer  through 
whom  all  orders  passed,  yet  he  was  kept  absolutely 
in  the  dark  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  King.  He 
writes  to  the  Council  of  War  (July  2,  1597)  recom- 
mending that  all  the  merchant  ships  loaded  with 
Spanish  produce  destined  for  the  Channel  or  Flemish 

^  The  final  estrangement  of  Esses  from  the  Queen  dates  from  this 
period.  In  his  absence  the  previous  year  the  Secretaryship  had  been 
given  to  Cecil ;  on  his  return  on  this  occasion,  he  found  that  Lord 
Admiral  Howard  had  been  made  Earl  of  Nottingham,  and  now  took 
precedence  over  Essex.  The  latter,  therefore,  stormed  and  flouted  until 
the  whole  court  was  in  a  turmoil.  He  challenged  the  aged  Lord 
Admiral  and  his  sons  ;  was  reproved  by  the  Queen,  and  absented  him- 
self from  court  for  many  months,  alternately  insulting  and  tearful  to  his 
mistress.  The  Queen,  sometimes  in  a  rage  at  his  obstinacy,  sometimes 
grieved  at  his  serious  illness,  was  profoundly  disturbed  and  unhappy  ; 
and  though  she  finally  forgave  him  in  December  1597,  and  granted 
him  precedence  over  Howard,  she  expressed  herself  determined  to 
break  his  spirit  before  she  finished  with  him. 

2  British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.  28,420.  Some  of  these  papers,  giving 
an  account  of  the  actual  strength  of  the  fleet,  have  been  transcribed  by 
me,  and  included  in  the  Calendar  of  Spanish  State  Papers,  vol.  iv. 
The  rest  are  unpublished. 


THE    THIRD    ARMADA,    1597  251 

ports  should  be  embargoed,  in  order  that  the  English 
might  not  make  use  of  them,  but  that  the  Spaniards 
might  do  so  if  they  needed  them.  This,  he  insists, 
should  be  done  swiftly  and  without  notice,  as  the 
Portuguese  and  Andalusian  nobles  and  merchants, 
whose  oil,  wine,  and  produce  filled  the  ships,  would 
not,  he  said,  like  it.  He  then  continues  as  follows  : 
"It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  English  fleet  will 
come  to  Spain  this  year,  even  if  they  had  the  20,000 
soldiers  to  land,  and  the  12,000  men  for  the  ships, 
and  the  supplies  needful  for  the  purpose.  But  it  is, 
nevertheless,  very  desirable  that  we  should  make  a 
show  of  preparation  and  arming  on  our  side  (which 
seems  to  have  stopped  as  soon  as  the  news  came 
that  no  fleet  would  be  raised  in  England  this  year),^ 
and  that  forces  should  be  collected  sufficient  both 
to  gain  a  footing  in  England  and  to  defend  our  own 
country.  Thus,  if  the  attack  against  England  be 
successful,  we  shall  be  able  to  reinforce  our  men, 
and  if  it  be  not  successful  we  shall  have  a  reserve. 
As  your  Lordships  are  carrying  on  everything  so 
secretly,  no  one  can  be  sure  if  he  is  correctly  in- 
formed, and  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  whether 
the  opinions  I  express  will  be  apposite  or  not.  Time 
is  thus  frittered  away.  I,  for  my  part,  have  decided 
to  take  the  plunge,  and  say  plainly  what  I  think. 
.  .  .  The  only  way  out  of  all  this  confusion  that  I 
can  see  is  for  us  to  gain  a  footing  in  England  this 
year.  This  will  be  to  strike  at  the  trunk,  all  the 
rest  is  simply  climbing  in  the  branches.     All  diffi- 

'  It  should  be  recollected  that  Essex  at  this  date  actually  had,  as  we 
have  seen,  a  powerful  fleet  ready  to  sail  for  the  Spanish  coast  as  soon 
as  the  wind  served. 


252  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

culties  disappear  before  resolute,  courageous,  and 
timely  action.  The  stores  and  men  we  can  get 
together  between  this  time  and  the  loth  August 
will  be  sufficient  to  effect  a  landing  during  that 
month,  and  I  feel  confident  that,  if  we  go  to  Wales, 
which  is  only  forty  leagues  farther  from  Ferrol  than 
Plymouth,  and  is  a  better  place  to  land  in,  we  can 
manage  to  avoid  meeting  their  fleet.  This  is  borne 
out  by  all  practical  seamen.  Even  if  300  English 
ships  were  to  go  to  Milford  fifteen  days  after  we 
were  established  there,  and  land  10,000  men,  they 
would  find  the  mouth  of  the  port  defended  (which 
could  be  done  in  two  days),  and  the  place  ready  to 
repel  an  attack  from  the  sea.  It  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  English  could  on  such  short  notice 
land  a  force  capable  of  battering  the  place  on  the 
land  side,  as  we  shall  be  strongly  situated  and 
on  the  defensive.  Besides  this,  the  conformation 
of  the  land  is  in  our  favour,  so  that  the  only  thing 
to  be  feared  is  our  delay  in  deciding  to  take  this 
course. 

"  In  any  case,  it  will  be  well  to  press  forward 
energetically  the  supplying  of  our  fleet  with  stores, 
and  to  send  constant  instructions  to  the  places 
whence  the  stores  are  to  come.  Especially  should 
the  guns  from  the  Lisbon  foundry  be  hurried  for- 
ward, because  with  the  forty  pieces  ordered  we  can 
arm  the  new  galleons.  The  Council  of  War  should 
consider  and  decide  upon  all  points  that  have  been 
submitted  about  the  fleet,  and  the  Council  of  State 
should  take  the  necessary  action  to  provide  the 
money,  the  troops,  the  siege  artillery,  the  cavalry, 
and  especially  to  decide  upon  the  point  where  we 


THE  THIRD   ARMADA,    1597  253 

shall  land.     This  should  be  kept  strictly  secret  in 
the  breasts  of  your  Lordships  and  the  Adelantado." 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  letter  that  everything  was 
unready  in  July,  at  the  time  when,  for  many  weeks 
past,  people  in  England  had  been  expecting  the 
fleet  off  their  own  coasts.  The  bad  morale  of 
Philip's  officers  is  conspicuous  in  the  series  of 
petulant  letters  written  by  Lopez  throughout  the 
whole  spring  and  summer  to  Esteban  de  Ibarra, 
Secretary  of  the  Council  of  War.  He  threatens  to 
retire  unless  he  is  entrusted  with  the  destination 
and  objects  of  the  fleet.  Nothing,  he  says,  must 
be  kept  back  from  him,  or  he  will  have  no  more 
to  do  with  it.  Why  should  not  he  know  as  much 
as  others  ?  He  is  never  consulted  :  his  opinion  is 
never  asked  ;  nothing  but  orders  are  sent  to  him  ! 
Once  in  June  he  wrote  a  most  insolent  letter  to 
Ibarra,  trying  to  pick  a  quarrel  v,'ith  Iiim,  because 
he  had  not  informed  him  (Lopez)  of  what  orders 
had  been  given  for  wheat  and  biscuits.  More  than 
once  Ibarra  gravely  rebuked,  and  even  covertly 
threatened  him ;  but  Lopez  always  retorted  with 
a  fresh  string  of  grumbling  complaints.  On  the 
30th  June  he  wrote  that  everything  was  in  com- 
plete confusion  :  uniforms  for  the  men  were  lack- 
ing, and  there  was  no  cavalry  fit  for  service.  "  There 
is  no  money  to  provide  anything,  no  meat,  no  wine, 
no  siege  artillery,  hardly  any  guns  for  the  ships." 
And  so,  from  day  to  day,  follow  new  discontents 
and  fresh  demands.  In  a  postscript  to  a  letter  of 
4th  July  he  says  that  on  the  previous  day  he  had 
seen  Don  Cristobal  de  Moura,  the  principal  Secre- 
tary of  the  King,  who  had  gone  to  Ferrol   to   put 


254  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

matters  straight,  and  who  had  told  him  that  the 
Adelantado  had  declared  that  there  was  no  fleet, 
or  an)'  possibility  of  going  out  and  facing  an  enemy. 
Lopez  demurred  at  this,  and  promised  to  send  to 
Moura  an  exact  statement  of  the  position  of  the 
fleet,  which,  he  said,  would  be,  within  five  weeks, 
sufficient  for  the  purpose  which  he  (Lopez)  had 
proposed,  viz.,  for  landing  a  force  at  Milford.  "The 
Adelantado's  general  statement  that  he  lacks  every- 
thing is  only  his  usual  style  of  putting  things.  .  .  . 
Of  course,  if  we  could  reinforce  it  (the  fleet),  so 
much  the  better ;  but  if  we  cannot,  we  must  make 
the  best  use  we  can  of  it." 

Here  we  see  the  principal  executive  officer  of  the 
arsenals  and  dockyards  absolutely  in  the  dark  as  to 
the  kind  of  force  he  will  have  to  provide,  the  des- 
tination and  length  of  voyage  of  the  expedition, 
and  quite  unprepared  for  a  prompt  sailing.  It  is 
probable  that  Philip  had  not  the  slightest  intention 
at  the  time  of  sending  his  fleet  to  Milford,  or  of 
seriously  invading  England  direct ;  as  how  could  he 
hope  to  do  with  the  material  then  at  his  disposal  ? 
The  statement  sent  by  Lopez  to  Cristobal  de  Moura 
sets  forth  that  the  fleet  will  be  ready  to  sail  from 
Ferrol  by  the  middle  of  August,  and  should  efifect 
a  landing  by  the  8th  September.  The  whole  force, 
according  to  Lopez  de  Soto's  estimate,  would  consist 
of  93  ships.  Of  these,  23  were  to  be  of  600  to  1000 
tons  burden,  25  of  300  to  600  tons,  26  of  100  to 
200  tons,  with  20  galley  zabras  of  50  to  100  tons, 
besides  pinnaces,  victuallers,  &c.  The  number  of 
men  which  Lopez  proposed  to  send  in  the  fleet  was 
20,000  soldiers  and  4000  sailors ;  and  he  advocated 


THE   THIRD   ARMADA,    1597  255 

the  seizure  of  a  large  number  of  pinnaces  to  enable 
the  men  to  be  thrown  rapidly  on  shore.  He  also 
professed  to  have  invented  a  new  sort  of  galley, 
capable  of  making  long  ocean  voyages  and  carrying 
17  big  guns.  "They  will  live,"  he  said,  "through 
heavy  weather  as  well  as  high-built  ships,  which 
they  could  accompany  anywhere."  "  If  your  Majesty 
had  30  of  these  galleys,  you  would  be  entire  master 
of  the  coasts  of  England  and  France ;  as  4000  men 
might  be  thrown  on  shore  unexpectedly  at  any 
point ;  and  any  place,  however  large,  may  be  sacked 
by  such  a  force  if  it  be  surprised."  ^ 

So  evident  was  the  demoralisation  in  Philip's  pre- 
parations, however,  that  close  and  well-informed  ob- 
servers like  the  Venetian  ambassador,  Nani,  expressed 
to  his  Government  disbelief  in  the  possibility  of  the 
Adelantado's  expedition  being  intended  to  attack 
England,  as  "the  English  ships  are  far  quicker  and 
handier  than  the  Spanish,"  and  "  the  nature  of  the 
Spanish  fleet  is  such  that  it  is  better  suited  for 
transport  than  for  an  attack  on  England,  where  they 
would  find  a  fleet  far  superior  to  their  own."  For 
these  reasons  the  ambassador  believed  that  the  real 
object  was  to  attack  the  African  port  of  Larache,  or 
to  convey  a  strong  force  to  Brittany  ; "  whilst  a  few 
weeks  afterwards  (24th  July  1597)  the  preparations 
were  so  backward  and  chaotic  that  the  same  am- 
bassador was  of  opinion  that  the  preparations  were 
only  for  defence,  as  many  of  the  troops  were  being 
disbanded,  "  and  the  King's  intentions  about  the 
attack  on  England  are  cooling  down."     The  Adel- 

1  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  and  British  Museum,  Add.  28,420. 
-  Nani  to  the  Doge,  June  1 597  (Venetian  Calendar). 


256  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

antado,  a  hot-headed  Catholic  zealot,  was  in  prin- 
ciple all  for  a  crusade  against  the  heretic,  but  was 
alternately  despairing  of  going  anywhere  at  all  with 
such  a  force,  and  exalted  with  the  idea  that  the 
sacredness  of  the  cause  would  make  up  for  all 
deficiencies.  Philip  himself  was  thought  to  be 
dying,  though  not  even  the  Nuncio  had  the  courage 
to  tell  him  so  ;  but  as  he  could  only  work  inter- 
mittently, and  not  even  the  most  trifling  detail 
could  be  settled  by  any  one  else,  almost  complete 
paralysis  had  fallen  upon  his  officers  at  the  time 
that  Essex,  but  for  the  unlucky  Biscay  gales,  would 
have  had  the  Spanish  ports  at  his  mercy. 

At  length,  when  terrifying  news  came  that  the 
English  had  sailed  in  force  again  under  Essex,  and 
were  first  on  the  coasts  of  the  Peninsula,  and  then 
cruising  round  the  Azores  to  capture  the  treasure 
fleets,  a  last  desperate  efi"ort  was  made  by  the  Adel- 
antado  ;  and  the  much-talked-of  Spanish  Armada  of 
1597,  all  incomplete  as  it  was,  put  to  sea  from 
Corunna  on  the  i8th  October  (N.S.) ;  but  with  a 
military  force  very  different  from  that  foreshadowed 
by  Lopez  de  Soto's  sanguine  estimate.^  The  season 
was  late  and  stormy  ;  the  preparations  had  been  so 
long  protracted  that  many  of  the  ships  were  ex- 
tremely foul  and  worm-eaten ;  but  the  orders  of  the 

1  The  report  sent  by  the  Venetian  Ambassador  to  the  Doge  (28th 
October)  says  that  the  force  that  left  Ferrol  for  Corunna  consisted  of  : — 

44  royal  galleons,  of  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  12,686  tons. 

16  merchantmen,  „  ,,  ,,       5880    „ 

52  German  and  Flemish  hulks  for  stores,    ,,    15,514    ,, 

76  small  craft. 
Tliis  fleet  was  to  have  carried  8634  soldiers  and  4000  sailors  ;  but  as 
will  be  seen  in  the  text,  at  least  600  of  the  former  with  22  caravels 
failed  to  join  from  Lisbon. 


THE   THIRD   ARMADA,   1597         257 

King  on  this  occasion,  as  before,  were  sternly  per- 
emptory, notwithstanding  the  expressed  unwilling- 
ness of  the  Adelantado  to  put  to  sea  under  the 
circumstances.  Essex's  fiect  was  known  to  be  on 
the  way  home  to  England,  and  if  it  encountered 
that  of  the  Adelantado,  the  latter  was  certain  to  bo 
beaten,  considering  the  bad  morale  of  the  Spaniards. ' 

'  lu  a  most  interesting  account  of  the  expedition  given  by  the 
confessor  of  the  Adelantado,  leather  Sicilia,  wlio  was  supposed  to 
be  a  natural  son  of  Philip  II.  (Venetian  State  Papers),  lie  speaks  of 
the  ''unwillingness  to  sail  which  lillfd  the  minds  of  every  oni',  when 
they  thought  of  the  season  far  aih^anced,  and  of  the  absolute  lack  ol 
all  that  was  essential  to  the  success  of  the  enterprise."  The  ambassadoi', 
writing  to  the  Doge  after  ihe  return  of  the  Adelantado's  Ueet,  says  that 
the  whole  blame  of  the  failure  was  being  cast  on  the  Adelantado.  The 
design,  he  said,  which  had  been  kept  a  close  secret  for  two  years,  wa^- 
now  public  ;  and  could  never  be  attempted  again.  "  However,  im- 
partial persons  know  full  well  that  this  violent  resolution  could  have 
met  with  no  other  result  than  it  did.  It  was  adopted  lather  on  a 
punctilio  than  in  hope  of  success.  .  .  .  The  King  was  swept  away  by 
a  passion  for  revenge  for  all  these  insults  which  he  is  constantly  re- 
ceiving :  and  so  in  a  bad  season,  with  a  -weak  Armada,  and  without 
waiting  for  reinforcements,  he  resolved  to  carry  out  his  object,  relying 
on  the  secret  intelligences  which  he  firmly  believes  he  has  established 
in  that  island ""  (Venetian  State  Papers).  A  clue  to  the  meaning  of 
the  last  paragraph  will  l)e  found  in  the  voluntary  confession  of  an 
English  .sailor  named  Love  (State  Papers,  Domestic,  A])ri]  20,  1598), 
who  tells  an  extraordinary  story.  A  Devonshire  seaman  called  Captain 
Elliot,  who  commanded  a  flotilla  of  privateers,  in  which  Love  .•mailed, 
appears  to  have  been  in  close  communication  with  Lord  Beauchamp 
(eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Hertford  by  Katharine  Grey,  and  con- 
sequently by  the  will  of  Henry  VIIL  heir  to  the  crown  of  England), 
and  much  mysterious  intercourse  is  detailed  as  having  passed  between 
them.  Elliot  captured  a  prize  in  the  Channel  and  took  her  into 
Helford  haven.  To  the  dismay  of  the  corsairs,  they  found  the  (^tueeiis 
revenue-cutter  there.  The  pirates  thought  they  were  caught  red- 
handed,  but  Captain  John  Killigrew,  who  was  in  command  at  Fal- 
mouth, said  they  need  have  no  fear  :  he  would  ''scpiare"  matters  witli 
Captain  .lonas  for  ;^ioo,  whicli  he  did,  receiving  as  his  own  payineui 
ten  bolts  of  (stolen)  Holland  cloth.  Killigrew  himself  had  bought  tlie 
pirates'  previous  prize  :  and  Elliot,  after  touching  at  Cork,  then  set 
sail  for  Corunna,  riding  thence  post  haste  to  see  Philip,  whom  lie  told 

n 


258  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

Muddle  reigned  supreme  from  the  first.  A  fly- 
boat  was  lost  at  the  moutl]  of  Corunna  harbour,  two 
pinnaces  were  lost  sight  of  immediately  afterwards, 
and  four  others  which  were  sent  to  Ferrol  for  a 
supply  of  biscuits  never  came  back.  Twenty-two 
decked  caravels  left  behind  at  Lisbon  to  ship  600 
soldiers  failed  to  join  the  fleet :  but  at  length  the 
Adelantado,  with  such  forces  as  he  had,  came  almost 
within  sight  of  the  Lizard  on  the  22nd  October 
(N.S.),  a  fortnight  before  Essex  landed  at  Plymouth 
(26th  October  O.S.).  The  day  after  the  Adelantado's 
ships  had  lost  sight  of  Spanish  land,  a  pinnace  was 
sent  round  the  fleet  with  the  King's  final  orders, 
which  had  been  kept  under  secret  seal  until  then. 
Philip,  as  the  Venetian  said,  swayed  by  a  thirst  for 
vengeance  alone,  had  listened  to  the  tale  of  the  false 
Englishman,  and  had  altered  his  mind.  He  was  no 
longer  sending  a  halting  aid  to  the  Irish  rebels.  Un- 
warned by  his  dire  experience  of  the  past,  in  face 
of  the  wretched  condition  and  insufficient  strength 
of  his  fleet,  the  utter  demoralisation  of  his  men  and 
the  faint-heartedness  of  his  commanders,  the  King 
had  for  once  forgotten  his  proverbial  prudence,  and 
liad  determined  to  stake  everything,  almost  in  his 
dying  hours,  upon  one  doubtful  turn  of  fortune. 
And  the  orders  that  went  round  were,  that  in  the 
name  of  God  and  St.  James  of  Compostella,  the 
fleet  was  to  sail   for  Falmouth,  which  they  were  to 

that  he  liad  "bought"  Falmouth  Castle  from  Captain  Killigrew. 
Elliot  and  his  men  entered  the  Adelantado'a  fleet,  and  Elliot  himself 
appears  to  have  been  the  principal  guide  and  inspirer  of  the  expedition, 
the  deponent  Love  acting  as  pilot  to  the  flagship.  Killigrew  himself 
was  cast  into  prison,  protesting  his  innocence.  There  are  several 
letters  from  him  to  Cecil,  &c.,  in  the  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii. 


TO   ATTACK   FALMOUTH  259 

take  by  surprise,  or  by  the  betrayal  of  its  com- 
mander, and  a  land  force  was  to  march  towards 
Plymouth. 

Nothing  short  of  desperation  or  a  bigotry  which 
blinded  Philip  to  practical  events  could  have  dic- 
tated such  orders  at  such  a  time  if  he  had  really 
meant  to  attempt  to  conquer  England.  PI  is  troops 
in  France  were  straining  every  nerve  to  hold  their 
own,  whilst  a  peace  inglorious  for  Spain  was  being 
patched  up  by  priests  and  friars  ;  and  it  was  almost 
c(Ttain  that  any  serious  aggressive  action  on  the 
part  of  Philip  against  England  would  have  pre- 
vented Henry  IV.  from  consenting  to  a  pacification, 
upon  which  the  Spanish  King's  last  remaining  hopes 
were  based.  The  favourite  eldest  daughter,  whose 
promotion  to  a  throne  had  been  one  of  the  passions 
of  his  life,  was  to  marry  her  cousin,  the  Cardinal 
Archduke  Albert,  and  to  assume  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Spanish  Netherlands.  If  the  matter  were  not 
finally  arranged  before  his  death,  which  might 
happen  any  day,  Philip's  dearest  wish  might  be 
frustrated,  and  he  desired,  of  all  things,  that  it 
should  be  carried  through  without  delay.  Whilst 
he  was  at  war  with  France,  and  above  all,  if  he 
launched  into  a  new  aggressive  or  invasive  war 
against  England  as  well,  he  could  not  hope  to  estab- 
lish the  new  sovereigns  of  Flanders,  nor  could  they 
have  withstood  for  a  week  the  combined  forces  of 
Holland,  France,  and  England,  which  in  such  case 
would  certainly  have  been  directed  against  them. 
Philip  was  absolutely  yearning  for  peace  before  he 
died,  and  the  conclusion  forced  upon  us  is,  that 
his  plan  for  seizing  Falmouth  by   surprise,   or   by 


26o  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

questionable  betrayal  witli  a  force  so  utterly  in- 
adequate as  that  at  the  disposal  of  the  Adelantado, 
was  not  meant  for  an  attempt  at  the  serious  inva- 
sion or  the  conquest  of  England,  but  as  a  means 
of  frightening  Elizabeth  into  an  arrangement  with 
him  at  the  same  time  as  Henry  IVJ 

Whether  the  Adelantado  knew  this  or  not  is 
doubtful ;  probably  he  did  not ;  but  he  must  have 
known,  and  all  his  company  must  have  known,  that 
to  liave  landed  his  seven  or  eight  thousand  men, 
at  most,  on  English  soil,  whilst  an  English  fleet 
stronger  than  his  own  was  on  the  sea  between 
him  and  his  bases  of  supply,  would  have  been 
simply  suicidal,  both  for  troops  and  fleet.  So, 
although  we  are  told  by  one  of  the  company,^  that 
on  the  King's  orders  being  known,  "joy  filled  each 
heart  with  content,  and  even  the  sick  forgot  their 
ailments,"  little  joy  was  manifested  when  they 
reached  the  mouth  of  the   Channel.     There  was  a 

'  The  Freucli  had  iu  September  recaptured  Amiens  from  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  Vatican,  with  Philip's  connivance,  was  now 
making  desperate  efforts  to  bring  about  a  jjeace  between  Spain  and 
France,  absolutely  necessary  for  both  countries.  Elizabeth  and  the 
Dutch  were  furious  at  Henry's  listening  to  such  overtures  without 
their  consent.  The  Spanish  King  even  offered  to  include  Elizabetli 
in  the  treaty  ;  but,  as  will  be  related  in  the  next  chapter,  on  con- 
ditions quite  impossible  for  England  to  accejjt.  Still,  the  fact  that 
Philip  made  the  offer  at  all  shows  how  desirous  he  was  to  leave  his  suc- 
cessor at  peace,  and  tends  to  prove  that  the  expedition  of  the  Adelantado 
was  never  really  intended  for  the  conquest  of  England  by  invasion, 
but  rather  to  alarm  Elizabeth  into  the  peace  negotiation  on  tlie  terms 
agreeable  to  Spain. 

'^  Carrera,  the  Adelantado's  courier.  The  Adelantado  had  continued 
to  insist  that  he  could  not  put  to  sea  without  great  risk  of  losing  the 
fleet,  and  had  stood  out  strongly  against  the  order  to  sail.  When  the 
news  came  to  Spain  that  Essex  was  at  the  Azores,  positive  commands 
were  sent  to  the  Adelantado  to  sail  immediately  at  any  risk,  "for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  a  diversion."     His  orders  were  to  land  at  Falmouth 


THE    ARMADA    DRIVEN    BACK        261 

stiff  head  wind  blowing,  which  soon  showed  up  the 
weak  points  of  the  Spanish  ships.  "The  admiral^ 
wished  to  lie  to,  and  see  if  the  weather  would  mode- 
rate sufficiently  to  allow  him  to  proceed.  IJut  seeini^- 
the  wind  freshening  steadily,  and  a  pinnace  having 
brought  word  that  the  San  Marco's  seams  had  gaped 
under  stress  of  the  storm,  he  was  obliged  to  stand 
by  her.  .  .  .  He  resolved  to  cruise  about  all  night, 
keeping  an  eye  on  the  weather,  if  it  would  allow 
him  to  push  forward,  and  having  all  the  fleet  gath- 
ered about  him.  At  this  moment  another  pinnace 
arrived  at  the  Adelantado's  flagship,  Avith  news 
from  the  admiral  that  his  foremast  had  been  carried 
away,  and  as  he  could  not  hold  on  his  course,  he 
asked  for  orders.  The  Adelantado,  recognising 
how  dangerous  it  would  be  to  risk  the  life  of  the 
admiral,  of  his  officers,  and  the  70,000  ducats  on 
board  the  galleon,  gave  orders  that  the  admiral 
should  put  about,  and,  as  best  he  could,  make  for 

and  fortify  himself,  "on  the  site  of  the  castles,  neither  of  them  of 
much  importance,  and  then,  leaving  a  sufficient  garrison,  he  was  to 
retire  to  the  Scilly  Isles,  and  await  the  return  of  the  English  fleet.  If 
he  learnt  that  the  Spanish  Indies  flotilla  had  been  captured,  he  was  to 
give  battle  to  the  English  ;  and  on  winning  a  victory,  as  was  expected, 
he  was  again  to  enter  Falmouth  and  land  the  rest  of  his  troops.  From 
Falmouth  he  was  to  press  forward  and  capture  all  he  could."  When 
the  Adelantado  returned,  he  assured  Philip  that  if  he  had  pushed  on 
with  his  fleet  in  the  weak  unprovisioned  state  in  which  it  was,  he 
would  have  suR"ered  more  damage  from  the  enemy  than  from  the 
storm.  The  Adelantado  was  quite  right.  It  was  not  on  the  cards 
for  a  moment  that  he  could  so  entirely  annihilate  the  Englisli  fleet 
as  to  have  been  able  to  go  to  Falmouth  a  second  time,  and  ([uietly 
land  his  men.  In  any  case,  even  if  he  had  done  so,  they  would  have 
been  caught  like  rats  in  a  trap,  from  which  they  could  not  have 
escaped.  (See  report  of  Carrera,  the  Adelantado's  courier,  Father 
Siciiia,  the  Adelantado's  confessor,  and  the  letters  of  Nani  to  the 
Doge,  all  in  the  Venetian  State  Papers.) 
'  Don  Diego  Brochero. 


262  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

Spain."  ^  We  are  told  that  the  Adelantado  waited 
until  two  hours  after  sunrise  next  morning  (23rd 
October,  N.S.),  intending,  as  the  weather  would  not 
allow  him  to  approach  Falmouth,  to  make  for  Nieu- 
port,  or,  if  that  was  impossible,  to  run  for  Water- 
ford  or  Cork,  or  even  Brest.  But  he  decided  at 
last  that  he  could  do  nothing  but  get  back  to  Spain 
as  quickly  as  possible.  This  is  the  best  story  that 
his  own  apologetic  confessor  can  make  of  it,  but 
in  another  account  by  an  eye-witness  the  picture  of 
demoralisation  is  a  more  vivid  one.  "  The  Armada 
began  to  part  company  and  to  scatter  (i.e.  in  the 
night  of  22nd  October),  each  one  thinking  of  his 
own  safety ;  the  sea  unshipping  their  rudders, 
breaking  their  yards,  carrying  away  their  masts, 
and  most  gave  themselves  up  for  lost.  For  two 
days  they  knocked  about  without  being  able  to 
make  any  harbour,"  and  then,  with  a  fair  wind 
astern,  they  ingloriously  sailed  back  in  driblets 
to  Corunna,  beaten  and  cowed,  though  they  had 
never  seen  an  enemy  nor  fired  a  shot.^ 

It  was  Philip's   last    dying   effort,^    and   nothing 

1  Accouut  of  Father  Sicilia  (Venetian  State  Papers). 

^  At  first  it  was  supposed  that  a  large  number  of  the  ships  had  been 
lost,  but  most  of  them  subsequently  turned  up  in  the  various  Spanish 
ports,  though  greatly  damaged.  The  actual  number  totally  wrecked 
seems  to  have  been  tibout  ten  vessels.  An  English  spy  in  Spain  re- 
ported on  the  return  of  the  Armada  to  the  coast :  "  There  is  nothing 
but  confusion  and  stories  of  misfortune  ;  yet  brags  of  what  they  will 
do  before  next  spring  "  (State  Papers,  Dom.,  October  1 597). 

^  Philip  was  thought  to  be  moribund  for  some  days  before  the  news 
of  the  failure  reached  his  court.  Paralysis  had  seized  him,  and  he  was 
only  kept  alive  by  the  exertions  of  his  devoted  daughter,  who  blew 
liquid  nourishment  down  his  throat.  The  moment  he  regained  con- 
sciousness he  sighed,  "  Oh,  will  he  never  be  ready  ?  What  more  can 
Martin  (i.e.  Martin  de  Padilla,  the  Adelantado)  want  ?"  (State  Papers, 
Dom.,  October  1597). 


FRKSH    PRAYERS    FROM    CONNAUCtHT    26;, 

shows  more  clearly  than  this  how  the  boasted 
strength  of  sovereign  and  people  had  dwindled 
under  his  hidebound  rule.  For  two  yc^ars,  as  wo 
have  seen,  this  Armada  had  been  painfully  got 
together,  under  the  innumerable  difHciilties  that 
liave  been  mentioned.  That  it  should  bo  scattered 
by  the  severe  gale  of  the  previous  year  was  at  least 
understandable.  All  fleets  at  the  time  were  liahlo 
to  such  accidents ;  hut  the  head  winds  encountered 
in  October  1597  were  not  sufficient  reason  for  the 
utter  abandonment  of  the  objects  of  the  expedition. 
The  Spaniards  had  lost  their  crusading  zeal,  and 
they  no  longer  had  the  moral  stamina  which  alone 
had  formerly  warranted  their  sovereign's  claim  to 
dictate  to  Christendom  the  minutiae  of  its  belief. 

The  readiness  of  Tyrone  to  make  friends  with 
the  English  had  -aroused  considerable  distrust  in 
Philip's  mind,  for  lie  admitted  no  divided  allegiance, 
and  he  knew  that  whilst  O'Neil  himself  stood  aside 
no  rising  in  Ireland  could  hope  to  be  successful 
against  the  English  rule.  After  waiting  impatiently 
all  the  winter  (1596-97)  for  the  promised  Spanish 
aid,  the  Connanglit  chiefs  despatched  an  envoy 
named  Thojnas  Lalley  in  June  1597  to  beg  Philip 
to  send  them  promptly  the  aid  he  had  promised. 
Hut  he  brought  no  letter  from  Tyrone  (or  O'Donnell), 
and  his  demands,  over  and  above  the  formal  and 
general  prayer  for  aid,  were  more  concerned  with 
the  individual  profit  of  his  principals  than  with  the 
final  triumph  of  the  Catholic  cause.  Thus  Lalley's 
father-in-law,  James  Kelly,  writes  to  the  King  a 
bombastic  letter,  saying  how  much  he  and  Lalley 
have  done  against  the  English,  and  begging  for  pen- 


264  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

sions  on  the  strength  of  it.  Mac  William  Bourke 
asks  that  "the  land  he  holds,  and  all  those  he  may 
acquire  from  the  heretics,  shall  be  secured  to  him 
in  fee ;  and  that  when  the  Spaniards  arrive  in  Ire- 
land his  clansmen  shall  be  received  into  the  King's 
service  and  be  paid  the  same  as  Spanish  soldiers. 
As  he  is  the  chief  man  in  Connaught,  he  asks  that 
he  should  be  made  governor  of  the  province  for  the 
King  of  Spain."  He  requested  that  all  Irish  ships 
in  Spanish  ports  belonging  to  English  sympathisers 
should  be  confiscated,  and  the  value  of  them  given 
to  Lalley  to  carry  to  Ireland.'  It  was  demanded, 
too,  that  if  Galway  surrendered  to  the  Spaniards, 
the  whole  of  its  privileges  should  be  confirmed  by 
them.  Kelly  not  only  petitioned  for  a  large  money 
grant  for  himself  and  Lalley,  but  that  "  all  his 
people,  and  also  his  noble  neighbours,  should  be 
confirmed  in  their  privileges  ; "  and  Lalley  wanted 
a  grant  of  "heretics'"  land  and  some  of  the  King's 
English  prisoners  to  enable  him  to  ransom  a  son  of 
his  in  the  hands  of  the  Queen's  Government 

Most  of  these  personal  petitions  were  readily  con- 
ceded by  Philip,  for  they  were,  with  the  exception 
of  the  pensions,  which  he  did  not  grant,  not  at  his 
own  expense  ;  but  upon  the  margin  of  the  principal 
letter  from  MacWilliam  Bourke  speaking  of  Spanish 
armed  aid  to  the  Catholic  cause,  Philip  scrawled  an 
ominous  direction  that  they  "  should  be  encouraged 
with  generalities,"  We  know  what  that  meant  in 
his  vocabulary,   and  Tyrone   certainly  appraised   at 

1  This  petition,  whicli  was  granted  by  Philip  "as  they  are  enemies' 
ships,"  would  practically  put  a  stop  to  the  considerable  business  carried 
on  between  Ireland  and  Spain,  as  most  of  the  merchants,  traders,  and 
citizens  were  on  the  side  of  tlie  English. 


COBOS    AGAIN    AT    KILLIBKGS         265 

their  true  value  the  bland  "  generalities "  of  the 
Spaniards.  He  had  grown  more  and  more  free 
with  his  talk  of  composition  and  pledges  as  the 
winter  wore  on  and  the  spring  brought  no  Spanish 
force  to  his  aid.  But  though  with  words  of  loyalty 
ever  on  his  lips,  there  was  no  possibilit\  of  mis- 
taking his  rebellious  spirit  behind  the  mask.  Lord- 
Deputy  Russell  insisted  upon  being  relieved  of  the 
government.  "He  would  not,"  he  said,  "have 
petitioned  to  be  revoked  if  he  could  have  found  any 
good  tokens  of  desire  in  Tyrone  to  be  a  subject. 
The  Earl  abuseth  the  commissioners  to  win  time 
till  the  Spaniards  come"  (March  6,  1597,  Irish 
State  Papers) ;  and  though  Norreys  was  all  for 
making  such  terms  as  would  satisfy  Tyrone,  it  was 
mainly  irom  a  brave  soldier's  impatience  at  the  petty 
persecution  and  injustice  which  self-seeking  civilians 
and  clerical  politicians  in  Dublin  inflicted  upon  the 
Irish,  making  rebellion  almost  inevitable,  whilst  the 
preparations  to  combat  it  were  quite  inadequate.^ 

At  the  end  of  March  there  was  a  great  scare  that 
twenty  Spanish  ships  had  entered  Killibegs  with 
men,  arms,  and  money,  and  that  Tyrone  had  gone 
down  to  meet  them,  issuing  a  proclamation  calling 
for  recruits  at  i2d.  per  day  wages,  which  Fenton 
thought  might  attract  most  of  the  Irish  soldiers  in 
the  English  pay,  though  he  still  did  not  believe  that 
the  "  Irishry "  would  allow  any  Spanish  army  to 
invade  Ireland.     Gradually  the  twenty  Spanish  ships 


'  The  appointment  of  Sir  .John  Norreys  as  Lord -Deputy  was  much 
desired  by  Tyrone,  who  said  that  if  it  was  made  all  (juestions  could  be 
settled.  The  appointment  of  Lord  Borou<.'h,  he  said,  made  him  de- 
spair of  fair  dealinc;  (Marcli  20,  1597.  State  Papers,  Ireland). 


266  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

dwindled  to  one  small  pinnace  ^  with  some  powder 
and  messages  of  encouragement,  more  "generalities," 
from  the  King.  Even  O'Donnell,  who  was  still  in 
rebellion,  was  disgusted  at  this  paltering,  and  re- 
fused even  to  speak  to  Cobos  until  the  latter  had 
been  taken  to  see  Tyrone.  The  Earl  was  cool  and 
dignified.  He  had  made  peace  with  the  Queen  of 
England,  he  said,  and  meant  to  keep  it,  and  he 
swore  a  "  great  oath "  to  the  English  Captain 
Warren,  '*that  if  all  the  Spaniards  in  Spain  should 
come  into  Ireland,  they  could  not  alter  his  mind 
from  being  a  dutiful  subject  to  her  Majesty  if 
promise  were  kept  to  him."  " 

When  the  new  Viceroy,  Borough,  arrived  in  May, 
the  Earl  was  just  as  emphatic  to  him.  He  was,  he 
said,  as  he  always  had  been,  ready  to  make  his  sub- 
mission. "He  did  not  look  for  any  Spaniards,  and 
he  would  not  join  with  any  foreign  nation  against 
his  natural  prince.  The  Spaniards  are  a  nation  only 
for  themselves  and  for  none  other;"  whilst  O'Donnell 
himself,  in  his  bitter  disappointment  at  the  insigni- 
ficant aid   sent  in  the  one   ship  to  Killibegs,  told 

'  The  most  extravagant  and  lying  reports  were  sent  to  the  English 
on  this  subject.  James  Barnewall  wrote,  on  April  3,  that  twelve 
Spanish  vessels  had  arrived,  and  that  Tyrone  was  gathering  vast 
quantities  of  cattle  to  feed  the  Spaniards.  On  the  same  day  a  spy, 
signing  his  name  "  Taff,"  reported  that  Tyrone  had  secretly  threatened 
great  penalty  to  any  one  who  should  mention  the  coming  of  the 
Spaniards,  of  whom  1000  had  landed,  with  bishops  and  priests  and  a 
great  store  of  armour  and  munition.  Then  eight  Spanish  ships  had 
arrived  in  Loch  Foyle  ;  and  these  or  similar  misstatements  were  con- 
tinued far  into  the  summer. 

'  The  Lord  President  of  Munster  to  the  Viceroy,  &c.,  March  28, 
1 597  (State  Papers,  Irish).  Tyrone,  in  evidence  of  his  desire  to  please 
the  English,  sent  formal  notice  to  the  Viceroy  that  the  Spaniards  had 
informed  him  of  a  great  force  being  prepared  in  Spain  under  the 
Adelantado  to  be  sent  into  Ireland. 


IRISH    DISAPPOINTMENT  267 

Cobos  "that  the  Spaniards  were  but  a  deceitful 
nation  and  they  had  cosened  the  Irish.  After  all 
his  promises  the  King  of  Spain  had  sent  them 
nothing  but  a  little  powder.  'J'he  Irish  knew  that 
all  that  the  King  could  do  was  little  enough  to 
strengtlien  himself  a,i>aiust  the  Queen  of  England, 
and  it  were  good  for  them  (the  Irish)  to  depend  no 
longer  upon  the  King's  succour." 

But  with  all  these  professions  against  the  Spaniards 
the  relations  between  the  English  and  the  Irisli 
chiefs  grew  ever  more  strained.  The  last  liope 
of  a  permanent  peaceful  settlement  vanished  when 
Borough  was  appointed  Viceroy.  Tyrone  always 
made  his  loyalty  dependent  upon  tlic  English  pro- 
mises being  kept  to  liim,  and  the  rights  of  the  Irish 
respected.^  Borough  would  have  no  parley  in  such 
matters  as  good  faith  and  justice.  Eepentance,  he 
told  Tyrone,  was  liis  only  course.  It  mattered  not 
to  the  English  how  much  or  how  little  he  depended 
upon  the  Spaniards.  Complete  submission  to  the 
Queen's  mercy,  not  only  of  him,  but  of  all  the  Irisli 
chieftains,  was  the  only  road  to  peace.  This  tone 
made  an  arrangement  im])ossible,  for  the  grossest 
bad  faith  had  been  practised  towards  the  Irish 
leaders.      Bingham,  the  scourge  of  Connaught,  was 

1  Early  in  this  year  the  Countess  of  Tyrone's  lady-in-waiting  reported 
to  the  English  that  the  Karl  had  said,  when  he  had  submitted  to  the 
Queen,  "That  he  had  done  it  to  serve  his  own  turn,  as  they  have  done 
it  to  serve  theirs  ;  but  let  nie  be  hanged  and  confusion  (-onie  to  all  my 
jjosterity  if  ever  I  trust  either  to  pardon  or  aught  else  that  they  may 
olTer,  for  1  know  the  Council  of  England  to  be  arrant  knaves  and 
heretics,  to  whom  there  is  no  more  credit  to  be  given  than  to  the 
veriest  infidels  in  the  world.  J  will  keep  myself  out  of  their  fingers 
till  time  serve,  and  then,  peradventure,  they  shall  have  more  of  me"' 
(Irish  State  Papers,  February  12,  1597). 


268  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

still  uupuuished,  truces  were  broken  with  impuuity 
by  the  English,  the  hostages  given  by  the  chiefs 
were  still  held  tightly,  even  after  stipulations  had 
been  fulfilled,  and  Tyrone  boldly  prepared  now  to 
face  the  inevitable  and,  with  or  without  Spanish  aid, 
to  head  the  Irish  agaiust  English  rule. 

Feagh  MacHugh  once  more  went  out  rieving  and 
ravaging  until  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English, 
and  Russell,  as  the  last  act  of  his  viceroyalt}^  sent 
in  May  the  head  of  the  Leinster  rebel  in  pickle  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  greatly  indignant  at  the 
gift/  But  the  raids  into  the  Pale  still  went  on,  and 
the  black  clouds  of  the  coming  great  rebellion  banked 
higher  and  higher  in  the  north  and  west.  Tyrone 
and  O'Donnell,  in  close  union  now,  were  busy  in 
their  inaccessible  fastnesses  of  bog  and  mountain 
gathering  their  friends  for  the  life  and  death  struggle 
of  the  coming  year.  For  one  short  period  after  the 
death  of  Borough  in  October  peace  vv'as  made,  at 
least  in  appearance.  Borough  had  obtained  a  some- 
wjiat  important  success  over  Tyrone's  forces  on  the 
Black  water  in  the  summer,  and  had  pressed  the  rebel 
liard — the  running  beast,  as  he  called  him — until 
death  put  an  end  to  the  stern  Lord-Deputy's  efforts. 
O'Rourke  resented  the  too  openly  asserted  overlord- 
ship  of  O'Donnell,  and  was  inclined  to  submit  to  the 
English  conditions,  and  the  Connaught  men  gener- 
ally were  not  enthusiastic  in  the  support  of  a  move- 
ment which,  unless  Spain  took  the  lead,  would  make 

1  Sir  Robert  Cecil  writing  to  the  new  Viceroy,  Borough  :  "  Her 
Majesty  ...  is  surely  not  well  contented  that  the  head  of  so  base  a 
Robin  Hood  should  be  sent  so  solemnly  to  England.  It  is  no  such 
trophy  of  a  notorious  victory,  and  yet  his  friends  make  great  advantage 
of  it  here"  (Cecil  to  Borough,  Irish  State  Papet's,  May  26,  1597). 


TYRONE   STANDS   ALONE  269 

an  Ulsterman  paramount  over  llieni.'  So  'I'yrone 
considered  it  Avise  to  make  a  two-months'  triic(i  in 
the  winter  with  the  Earl  of  Ormonde,  commissioned 
by  the  Queen.  E>ut  his  demeanour  was  vastly 
changed  from  his  former  courtliness.  When  the 
parley  took  place,  "he  stationed  his  forces  on  several 
hills  in  proud  and  insolent  manner,"  as  if  to  threaten 
the  Queen's  representatives  ;  and  Avhen  he  was  asked 
what  pledges  he  proposed  to  give  for  his  future  good 
behaviour,  he  told  them  they  held  his  hostages 
already.  Then  breaking  out  he  said,  "  I  know  what 
you  mean.  Yon  want  one  or  both  of  my  sons.  1 
had  rather  see  them  dead."  He  told  them  bitterly 
how  he  had  been  held  in  silken  bondage  and  made  an 
Englishman,  whilst  his  father's  enemy,  Tirlogh,  was 
raised  to  the  chieftainship  by  the  Queen's  Govern- 
ment. And  thus  haughtily  he  contested  point  by 
point  of  his  demand,-  bating  nothing,  and  the  sus- 

^  We  have  t?een  a,  manifestation  of  this  in  the  desire  expressed  in 
their  petitions  sent  by  Thomas  Lally,  stipulal  ing  that  their  Lands  sliould 
be  held  by  them  in  direct  fee-simjDle  from  J'liilip  himself. 

-  Tyrone's  conditions  do  not  appear  to  moilern  eyes  very  unreason- 
able : — 

1.  He  demanded  freedom  of  conscience  of  all  Irislimen. 

2.  Her  Majesty's  full  pardon  to  himself  and  his  adherents,  and  the 
lestoralion  of  himself  in  blood  and  dignity  by  Act  of  Parliament. 

3.  That  it  may  please  her  Majesty,  for  that  the  abuses  of  her  bad 
officers  hath  been  the  begiitning  of  all  these  troubles,  and  the  Irishry 
cannot  away  with  the  rigour  of  the  law  ui)on  every  small  occasion, 
their  bringing  up  being  barbarous,  to  grant  unto  his  Lordship  authority 
that  Tyrone  may  be  made  a  County  Palatine,  as  the  like  is  granted  to 
others  in  Ireland. 

4.  The  withdrawal  of  all  Engli.'^h  gari-isons  from  Tyrone  '-and  all 
other  parts  of  the  Irishry,  for  tlu^y  are  so  terrified  that  they  will  not 
account  themselves  in  safety  so  long  as  her  Majesty's  forces  are  so  near 
at  hand." 

5.  That  all  his  adherents  sliould  be  included  in  the  arrangement,  and 


270  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

pension  of  hostilities  that  resulted  hardly  pretended 
to  be  a  peace.  Tyrone  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
fight,  but  to  fight  for  his  own  hand,  and  no  longer,  if 
he  could  avoid  it,  as  a  vassal  of  the  King  of  Spain. 
So  long  as  he  held  to  that  resolution  effective  help 
from  Philip  was  impossible,  and  Tyrone  hoped  to  do 
without  it.  We  shall  see  in  a  subsequent  chapter 
how  he  was  driven  by  circumstances  again  to  link 
his  cause  with  that  of  Catholic  supremacy. 

be  confirmed  iu  their  liereditary  possessions,  tlie  Mooies  and  Connors 
also  to  have  a  reasonable  portion  of  their  predecessors'  land. 

6.  That  the  former  hostages  he  had  given  should  be  restored  to  him. 
new  ones  being  given  (Ivisli  State  Papers,  December  23,  1597). 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  two  sections  of  Englisli  Catholics  and  the  succession — Arabella 
Stuart  versus  the  Infanta— Lord  Beauchamp — Party  conflicts  in 
England  with  regard  to  the  peace  with  Spain — The  aims  of  the 
Jesuits — Paralysis  of  tlie  Spanish  naval  adniiniftiatiou — Renewed 
alarm  in  England — Its  Ljroundlessness — Parleys  with  Tyrone  • 
His  renewed  appeals  to  Spain — Critical  condition  of  the  English 
rule  in  Ireland — Tlie  battle  of  Armagh. 

The  repeated  threats  and  attempts  at  the  iuvasion 
of  England  and  Ireland  by  Spain,  and  the  constant 
intercommunication  between  the  disaffected  Irish 
chiefs  and  Philip's  Government,  had  now  (1597-98) 
completed  the  estrangement  of  the  majority  of  Eng- 
lish Catholics  at  home  and  abroad  from  the  irre- 
concilable Jesuit  faction.  The  string  upon  which 
the  latter  had  always  harped  was  the  natural  repug- 
nance of  Englishmen  to  submit  their  country  to  the 
yoke  of  a  Scottish  king  ;  but  so  long  as  Elizabeth 
persisted  in  her  strong  determination  to  allow  no 
official  decision  or  discussion  as  to  her  successor, 
there  were  other  alternatives  open  besides  King 
James  and  the  Infanta,  and  every  political  move 
of  the  last  four  years  of  the  Queen's  reign  was 
influenced  by  the  open  and  covert  intrigues  whicli 
were  actively  proceeding  for  the  reversion  of  the 
crown  of  England. 

The  Catholics  in  the  country  were  still  very  nume- 
rous, especially  in  the  north,  notwithstanding  the 
ruthless  persecution  of  priests  and  recusants   since 


2  72  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

1593,  whilst  the  openly  demonstrated  dislike  of  the 
Queen  to  the  Puritans  and  to  a  frankly  Protestant 
service,  kept  alive  the  hope  amongst  the  professors 
of  the  ancient  faith  that  some  measure  of  toleration 
might  after  all  be  conceded  to  them.  But  it  must 
have  been  evident  to  them  that  the  much-longed-for 
end  could  never  be  attained  whilst  to  their  religion 
was  attached  the  reproach  of  disloyalty  to  the  Queen, 
whose  successful  rule  had  made  her  personally 
powerful  beyond  any  of  her  predecessors :  and  the 
English  Catholics  as  a  body,  with  their  leaders  the 
secular  priests,  tried  by  might  and  main  to  convince 
the  Government  that  the)''  had  neither  part  nor  lot 
in  the  attempts  at  foreign  invasion  or  in  the  murder- 
plots,  genuine  and  otherwise,  which  were  so  much 
talked  of  by  the  few  extremists  in  Flanders.  Unfor- 
tunately for  the  success  of  their  cause,  these  loj^al 
Catholics  were  themselves  divided,  and  possessed  no 
chief  of  sufficient  authority  and  character  to  unite 
them  for  a  common  end  ;  the  energies  and  attention 
of  their  priestly  leaders  being  entirely  occupied  in 
the  long  and  violent  altercation  with  the  Jesuit 
faction,  which  sprang  out  of  the  old  dispute,  and 
came  to  a  head  in  England  in  what  is  called  the 
Wisbech  Stirs. ^     Whilst  such  men  as  Dr.  Bagshaw, 

^  Tlie  fust  open  rupture  uiuougyt  the  Catholic  priests  under  arrest  at 
Wisbech  took  place  in  1595,  when  the  Jesuit  Father  Weston,  disgusted, 
as  he  says,  with  the  "whoring,  drunkenness,  and  dicing"  that  went 
on,  was  elected  by  eighteen  of  the  priests  who  thought  like  himself, 
"agent"  or  superintendent,  and  drew  up  rules  for  the  decent  govern- 
ment of  the  prisoners.  A  minority,  led  by  Dr.  Bagshaw,  repudiated 
his  elective  authority,  and  a  violent  quarrel  ensued.  A  temporary 
reconciliation  was  patched  up  at  the  end  of  the  year  1595  by  Dr. 
Dudley  and  Father  Mush,  but  matters  soon  became  more  strained  than 
ever.     The  priests  desired  the  appointment  of  a  bishop  with  the  Papal 


ENGLISH    CATHOLICS   DIVIDED      273 

Fathers  Mush  and  Bluet  were  hurling  vituperation 
at  the  Jesuits,  and  Fathers  Persons  and  Lister  were 
repaying  them  with  interest,  the  vital  question  for 
them  of  the  future  religion  of  England  was  being 
quietly  settled  behind  their  backs  by  clever  poli- 
ticians, who  were  practically  of  no  religion  at  all. 

Probably  the  majority  of  the  "loyal"  Catholics, 
if  it  had  been  possible  to  poll  them,  would  have 
declared  in  favour  of  the  succession  of  the  King  of 
Scotland,  whose  artful  professions  of  adhesion  to 
iiome  and  the  known  Catholicism  of  his  wife  had 
greatly  influenced  the  Papal,  Italian,  and  French 
Churchmen,  who  dreaded  an  increase  of  Spanish 
powder.  We  have  seen  how  persistently  this  section 
of  Catholics  had  worked  ever  since  the  death  of 
Mary  Stuart  to  attain  their  ends,  and  how  they  had 
been  efifectually  checkmated  by  the  political  power 
and  money  of  Philip,  whose  main  point  of  policy 
was  the  exclusion  of  James  at  any  cost.  As  the 
Queen's  age  increased,  and  the  demise  of  the  crown 
became  ever  more  imminent,  however,  it  is  not  sur- 

episcopal  authority  over  all  the  Catholic  clergy,  but  this  the  Jesuits 
prevented,  and  late  in  1 597  the  English  seculars  drew  up  a  passionate 
exposure  of  the  Jesuit  aims  and  methods  for  presentation  to  the  Pope  ; 
but  Persons,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  text,  had  gone  to  Rome  to  quell 
the  cognate  disturbances  in  the  English  College  there,  and  persuaded 
Cardinal  Gaetano,  the  "  Protector "  of  England  at  the  Vatican,  to 
appoint  Father  Blackwell,  a  known  ally  of  the  Jesuits,  Archpriest  over 
the  English  clergy.  The  dignity  was  a  new  one  ;  the  appointment  was 
underhand  and  irregular,  and  a  large  number  of  English  secular  priests 
rebelled  at  once.  Fathers  Bishop  and  Chariiock  were  sent  to  Rome  to 
lay  their  grievances  before  the  Pope  in  1598,  but  on  their  arrival 
there  they  were  arrested  by  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  and  their 
prayer  was  angrily  rejected  by  the  Pope.  Thenceforward  the  battle 
between  Jesuits  and  seculars  went  on  for  years  with  increasing  bitter- 
ness. The  effects  of  this  dispute  upon  the  progress  of  events  in  Euj^- 
land  will  be  noted  in  the  text  as  they  occur. 

S 


274  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

prising  that  efforts  should  have  been  made  by  the 
friends  of  other  possible  candidates,  and  by  those 
Englishmen  who,  whilst  indignant  at  the  idea  of 
submission  to  Spain,  hated  the  idea  of  a  Scottish 
King  ruling  over  what  they  considered  the  superior 
nation,  to  discover  some  means  of  obtaining  their 
desires  under  a  native  sovereign.  By  the  will  of 
Henry  VIII.  the  heir  to  the  throne  was  Lord  Beau- 
champ,  the  elder  son  of  the  Earl  of  Hertford,  by 
Katharine  Grey,  granddaughter  of  Mary  Tudor, 
Duchess  of  Suffolk ;  but  Hertford  was  timid  and 
unenterprising ;  his  marriage  with  Katharine  was 
of  very  doubtful  legality,  and  in  the  case  of  his 
father,  the  Protector  Somerset,  he  had  witnessed  the 
danger  of  aiming  too  high.  His  son  had,  therefore, 
fallen  into  the  background  as  a  possible  candidate^ 
and  the  strong  Protestant  traditions  of  the  family 
would  not.be  likely  in  any  case  to  recommend  him 
to  Catholics.  Descending  from  Eleanor,  the  second 
daughter  of  Mary  Tudor,  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  were 
the  Earls  of  Derby  and  Cumberland,  the  former  of 
whom  had  frequently  been  mentioned,  especially 
by  his  kinsman  Sir  AVilliam  Stanley,  as  a  suitable 
claimant  for  Catholics  to  adopt  before  the  Infanta's 
candidature  was  openly  announced.  He,  however, 
it  will  be  recollected,  had  repudiated  the  approaches 
made  to  him  by  Hesketh  (p.  102),  and  for  the 
present  stood  aside. 

The  only  other  serious  claimant  was  Lady  Ara- 
bella Stuart,  the  daughter  of  Darnley's  younger 
brother,  Charles,  Earl  of  Lennox,  and  consequently 
first  cousin  to  James  VI.  She  lived  with  her 
imperious  old  maternal  grandmother,  the  Countess 


ARABELLA    STUART  275 

Dowager  of  Shrewsbury  (Bess  of  Hardwick),  at  this 
time  almost  like  a  State  prisoner,  for  she  had 
offended  the  Queen  by  her  pride,  her  flightiness,  and 
the  constant  hints  at  political  and  foreign  intrigues 
of  which  she  was  to  be  made  an  instrument  She 
was  now  a  self-willed,  passionate,  clever  young- 
woman,  in  her  twenty-third  year,  angrily  resenting 
the  severe  restraint  under  which  she  suffered.  In  a 
later  chapter  we  shall  see  the  extraordinary  and  un- 
explained mystery  in  which  she  involved  herself. 
Her  hysterical  hints  at  some  great  State  secret,  com- 
bined with  a  love  affair  in  which  she  was  the  princi- 
pal person,  made  most  people  think  her  mad  ;  but 
though  she  talked  in  riddles — in  evident  imitation 
of  the  Queen  herself — there  was  probably  much 
more  behind  her  babble  than  was  believed  at  the 
time  or  since.  Sir  William  Stanley,  in  one  of  his 
boasting  conversations  in  Flanders  in  1594,  had  said 
that  he  should  soon  be  in  the  service  of  a  lady  in 
England,  and  when  asked  what  lady,  he  replied. 
Lady  Arabella  ;  and  in  a  letter  written  in  October  of 
the  same  year  from  Francis  Derrick,  one  of  the 
English  refugees  in  Flanders,  to  one  Henry  Wick- 
ham,  a  "  servant "  of  Essex,  we  catch  a  glimpse  of 
some  important  negotiation  about  her.  On  page 
221  reference  is  made  in  the  address  of  Father 
Persons  to  the  King  to  an  agent  named  Sterell,  who 
had  been  sent  twice  during  the  previous  winter 
(1595)  by  certain  English  Earls  to  Flanders.  Sterell 
was  a  member  of  the  household  of  the  Earl  of  W^or- 
cester,  who,  although  he  was  not  of  royal  blood,  was 
afterwards,  as  we  shall  see,  the  favourite  native 
candidate  for  the  crown  at  the  Spanish  court ;  and 


276  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

his  servant,  Sterell,  who  acted  as  spy  in  England  for 
the  English  refugees  in  Flanders,  was  really  in  the 
pay  of  Phellips,  the  Government  spy-master.  From 
the  series  of  letters  from  Derrick  above  referred  to, 
it  is  evident  that  Sterell's  mission  from  the  "Earls" 
in  1595  had  reference  to  Arabella  Stuart. 

Political  quidnuncs  had  proposed  all  sorts  of 
matches  for  her  since  her  early  childhood  ;  but  in 
1 59 1  we  get  in  touch  with  a  really  important  secret 
negotiation,  in  which  some  of  the  highest  English 
nobility  were  evidently  concerned,  and  which,  if  we 
could  get  at  the  bottom  of  it,  would  explain  many 
things  now  obscure.  Moody,  who  was  a  Catholic 
agent  in  the  Netherlands  in  the  interests  of  Essex, 
wrote  to  the  Earl  in  October  1591,^  asking  whether 
he  knew  of  a  negotiation  that  was  being  carried  on 
by  one  Barnes  ^  "  touching  the  Lady  Arabella,"  and 
begging  Essex  to  send  him  her  portrait,  "  as  there 
was  some  one  there  (in  Flanders)  very  desirous  of  see- 
ing it."  This  some  one  was  the  Duke  of  Parma  ;  and 
the  plan  of  the  moderate  party  was  to  bring  about  a 
peace  and  alliance  by  marrying  Arabella  to  Ranuccio, 
the  eldest  son  of  Parma,  whose  descent  gave  him  a 
better  claim  than  that  of  Philip  to  the  English 
crown,  and  to  assure  the  sovereignty  of  Flanders  to 
Parma  independent  of  Spain.  This  would  have 
been  a  master-stroke  of  policy,  for  it  would  effectu- 
ally have  shut  the  French  out  of  Flanders,  and  have 
given  England  a  preponderant  voice  there,  whilst 
freeing  her  from  all  apprehension  from  Spain.     To 

1  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.  p.  144. 

-  This  was  the  name  of  a  man  used  by  Sir  R.  Cecil  for  the  transmis- 
sion of  spy  letters.  See  letter  from  Paget  to  Cecil,  April  27,  1598 
(State  Papers,  Dom.). 


ARABELLA   STUART  277 

Moody  a  reply  was  sent  by  a  scribe  of  Essex's,^  that 
the  latter  knew  nothing  of  the  negotiation  in  ques- 
tion, but  would  be  glad  to  hear  more  about  it  from 
the  spy.  That  Arabella's  portrait  by  Hilliard  was 
sent  for  Ranuccio's  inspection  is  known, ^  but  the 
affair  was  promptly  nipped  in  the  bud,  as  may  be 
imagined,  when  it  came  to  the  ears  of  Essex  •  and 
the  innocent  lady  herself  was  sent  from  court  to 
the  semi-imprisonment  of  Hardwick  Hall  under  the 
keeping  of  her  gorgon  grandmother. 

By  the  efforts,  doubtless,  of  her  young  Catholic 
aunt,  the  Countess  of  Shrewsbury,  who  was  her 
great  friend,  and  some  of  her  Talbot  and  Cavendish 
uncles,  however,  it  is  clear,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
communications  were  again  opened  in  the  autumn 
of  1594  between  Arabella's  friends  and  the  Anglo- 
Spanish  fugitives  in  Flanders.  The  Spanish  Govern- 
ment was  assured  that  she  was  a  Catholic ;  ^  and  in 
the  letters  from  Derrick  to  Wickham,  already 
referred  to  (October  1594),  the  latter  is  informed 
that  the  proposal  with  regard  to  Arabella  is  accepted, 
and  that  all  communications  are  to  pass  through  the 
hands  of  Father  Sherwood.  With  the  formal  adop- 
tion of  the  Infanta's  claim  shortly  afterwards  by  the 
Spanish  party,  the  candidature  of  Arabella  was 
temporarily  dropped  by  them,  but  at  the  time  of 
w^hicli  we  are  now  writing  (1598),  a  considerable 
number  of  English  Catholics  had  come  round  again 
to  the  idea  that  an  arrangement  for  peace  and 
alliance   with    the    new    sovereign   of   Flanders,    in 

^  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  iv.  p.  156. 
-  Miss  Bradley's  Life  and  Letters  of  Arabella  Stuart. 
^  Spanish   Calendar,    vol.    iv.     She   professed   to   be   a   Puritan    in 
England. 


278  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

which  the  marriage  and  succession  of  Arabella  to 
the  English  throne  should  form  a  part,  would  be  a 
good  solution  of  all  their  troubles.^  This  was  a 
return  to  the  old  idea  of  the  Cecils.  An  English 
sovereign  in  close  alliance,  politically  or  matrimoni- 
ally, or  both,  with  a  '*  Duke  of  Burgundy,"  reigning 
in  Flanders  independently  of  Spain,  would  be  a 
renewal  of  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe,  which 
had  held  good  for  centuries  until  disturbed  by  the 
calamity  of  the  marriage  of  the  heiress  of  Aragon 
and  Castile  with  the  heir  of  Burgundy.  It  was 
instinctively  felt,  too,  that  the  Infanta's  chance  of 
winning  England  by  Spanish  arms  would  grow  less 
than  ever  on  her  father's  approaching  death.  Her 
half-brother,  the  new  king,  would  certainly  not 
plunge  his  already  bankrupt  country  deeper  into  the 
slough  to  win  a  crown  for  a  relative  whom  he  dis- 
liked ;  and  the  new  dominion  of  Flanders  that 
would  fall  to  the  Infanta  and  her  husband,  the 
Cardinal  Archduke,  would  occupy  all  their  attention, 
without  the  need  for  seeking  risk  and  adventure 
elsewhere. 

So  as  the  star  of  the  Infanta  waned  in  England, 
that  of  Arabella  Stuart  seemed  to  rise,  and  the  party 
of  "  loyal "  Catholics  was  thus  further  divided  by  the 
adhesion  of  a  section  to  the  candidature  of  the  King 
of  Scots,  whilst  another  portion  was  secretly  working 

1  An  English  Catholic  refugee  in  Flanders  writes  to  Cecil  (State 
Papers,  Dom.,  February  10,  1598),  when  sending  him  a  book:  "The 
bearer  will  inform  you  how  different  our  cogitations  be  from  what  our 
adversaries  would  make  the  world  believe.  We  desire  peace,  and  onl)^ 
wish  these  two  kingdoms  might  flourish  again  in  the  old  amity."  This 
is  one  of  many  similar  declarations  to  be  found  in  the  State  Papers  at 
this  period. 


RIVAL  CLAIMANTS  279 

for  Arabella  Stuart.^  The  mesh  of  the  intrigue  was 
tangled  in  the  extreme,  and  will  probably  never  be 
entirely  unravelled  ;  but  this  much  may  be  adduced 
from  the  evidence  which  will  be  quoted  in  its  proper 
chronological  order :  that  some  of  the  most  power- 
ful of  the  nobility  of  England  before  the  Queen's 
death  intended,  with  Spanish  support,  to  raise  Ara- 
bella and  a  fit  husband  to  the  throne  jointly  on 
the  demise  of  the  crown :  that  Cecil  and  some  of 
the  Howards  were  cognisant  of  this  plan  and  did 
not  oppose  it,  their  intention  from  the  first  being 
to  betray  it  and  sacrifice  their  friends ;  and  that 
Essex  with  his  Puritan  party,  being  naturally  ex- 
cluded from  participation  in  such  a  scheme,  did  his 
best  to  frustrate  it,  and  was  himself  crushed  in  the 
attempt. 

We  have  seen  (p.  257)  that  when  Captain  Elliott 
left  the  Cornish  coast  in  the  summer  of  1597  on  his 
treasonable  voyage  to  Spain  to  direct  the  Adelantado's 
fleet  to  Falmouth,  he  was  in  close  communication  with 
Lord  Beauchamp,  the  heir  to  the  crown  by  the  will 
of  Henry  VIH. ;  and  Elliott  subsequently  expressed 
his  regret  that  he  had  not  carried  the  nobleman  to 


^  An  intercepted  bundle  of  letters  quoted  in  State  Papers,  Dom., 
May  1598,  contained  a  letter  dated  February  1597  from  an  P^nglisli 
Catholic,  in  Spain,  speaking  of  the  going  of  the  Adelantado's  fleet  to 
England,  says:  "When  the  fleet  would  be  ready,  as  they  jirayed  for 
the  day  when  the  good  Prince  of  Spain  might  be  placed  in  England 
and  married  to  the  gentlewoman  there,  so  that  they  (the  refugees) 
might  go  and  end  their  lives  in  their  own  country."  This  suggestion 
for  a  marriage  between  the  young  Philip  III.  and  Arabella  was  pro- 
bably notiiing  but  loose  talk.  We  know  it  was  never  seriously  intended 
by  Spain,  but  doubtless  it  had  many  well-wishers  amongst  the  Spanish 
party  of  English  Catholics,  and  perhaps  was  one  of  the  dreams  of 
Arabella  herself. 


2  8o  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

Spain  with  him/  At  the  same  period  Father  Cecil, 
writing  from  Madrid  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  told  him 
of  the  project  of  carrying  "  two  great  personages " 
out  of  England,  Father  Gordon,  the  Jesuit  uncle  of 
Huntly,  having  informed  him  some  time  before 
"that  Lady  Arabella  was  shortly  to  be  conveyed  to 
Spain."  When  Father  Cecil  arrived  in  Spain,  he 
had  met  there  a  Captain  North,  who  had  been  sent 
on  this  business,  and  who  said  that  Arabella  her- 
self was  in  favour  of  it,  "  her  common  speech  being 
that  she  thought  no  match  in  England  good  enough 
for  her."  North  asserted  that  he  had  been  sent  by 
her  to  Rome,  Germany,  and  Spain  on  his  matri- 
monial errand,  and  had  negotiated  with  the  younger 
Archduke  Albert,  the  son  of  Archduke  Charles.  A 
suggestion  at  the  same  time  was  made  by  one 
Sakill  in  Spain  to  carry  thither  the  eldest  sister 
of  the  Earl  of  Derby;  but  Father  Cecil  very  justly 
observes  that  no  favour  was  likely  to  be  intended 
to  these  pretenders,  "but  to  lessen  the  number  of 
their  (the  Spaniards')  antagonists,  and  to  reserve 
them,  in  any  event,  in  case  their  own  card  {i.e.  the 
Infanta)  should  fail  them." 

These  various  suggestions  for  aiding  the  Infanta's 
cause  by  cajoling  or  kidnapping  to  Spain  rival 
English  claimants  probably  never  passed  beyond 
the  stage  of  harebrained  schemes  :  but  it  is  certain 
that  any  eifort  that  Essex,  James  Stuart,  or  the 
French  could  make  to  prevent  an  arrangement  with 

^  In  a  letter  written  by  the  sugan  Earl  of  Desmond  to  the  King  of 
Spain  in  1 599,  printed  in  Pacata  Hibernia,  he  mentions  that  a  certain 
Captain  Roche  would  have  carried  the  heir-apparent  of  the  crown  of 
England  to  Spain,  but  that  he  had  been  betrayed  by  his  own  men. 
This  probably  refers  to  the  plan  for  abducting  Lord  Beauchamp. 


DYNASTIC   INTRIGUES  281 

the  Archduke  in  Flanders,  which  would  also  have 
the  effect  of  bringing  Arabella  to  the  front,  would 
be  exerted  to  the  utmost.  The  mere  suggestion  of 
such  a  thing  set  a  flood  of  gossip  loose  about  the 
intention  of  Henry  IV.  himself  to  marry  Arabella, 
with  the  blessing  of  Elizabeth  and  the  acknowledged 
succession  to  the  English  crown.  This  alarmed  the 
Spaniards,  and  probably  explains  their  renewed  ap- 
proaches to  Arabella  at  this  period  (1597-98).  It 
was  obvious,  however,  that  the  Cecil  party  and 
Elizabeth  herself  would  never  countenance  such  an 
arrangement ;  and  when  Henry  IV.  had  made  peace 
with  Spain  and  settled  upon  his  Italian  marriage, 
the  purely  Spanish  party  had  no  further  use  for 
Arabella  until  the  Infanta's  candidature  for  the 
crown  was  finally  dropped.  At  a  later  period,  as 
we  shall  see,  the  Spanish  interest  coalesced  to  some 
extent  with  the  traditionary  conservative  elements 
in  England  itself,  as  against  the  Scottish,  Italian, 
French,  and  English  Puritan  interests,  \vhicli  sided 
with  James's  candidature.  It  was  the  cunning 
secrecy  of  Cecil  towards  the  moderate  party  that 
his  father  and  he  had  created  which  finally  raised 
.Tames  to  the  throne,  with  Cecil  as  his  all-powerful 
Minister,  and  extinguished  the  high  hopes  of  Ara- 
bella Stuart  and  others. 

The  efforts  of  the  two  divergent  interests  were 
clearly  seen  during  the  negotiations  for  peace  in  the 
winter  of  1 597-98.  After  the  recapture  of  Amiens  by 
the  French  in  the  autumn,  it  was  quite  evident  that 
both  France  and  Spain  were  utterly  exhausted,  and 
could  fight  no  more.  The  Pope  and  the  general  of 
the  Cordeliers  had  long  been  striving  to  bring  about 


282  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

peace,  and  at  length  their  overtures  were  listened 
to.  Henry  IV.  obtained  all  he  wanted  or  could  ask 
for,  a  return  territorially  to  the  status  quo  in  1559, 
and  there  was  no  reason  for  him  to  continue  fight- 
ing. It  will  be  remembered,  however,  that  he  had 
pledged  himself  positively  by  the  treaty  of  1596, 
which  had  so  much  offended  Lord  Burghley,  to  make 
no  separate  peace  without  including  Elizabeth  and 
the  States ;  and  a  hundred  questions  were  raised  by 
the  English  before  they  would  consent  to  join  in 
such  negotiations.  It  was  a  vital  matter  for  Henry  ; 
and  the  Pope  told  him  that  he  need  keep  no  faith 
with  heretics ;  but  the  gallant  Bearnais  determined 
to  make  an  effort  to  include  his  allies  in  the  treaty, 
in  pursuance  of  his  pledge.  His  envoy,  De  Maisse, 
came  to  England  in  December  1597  to  persuade 
Elizabeth  to  join  in  the  negotiations.  Essex  had 
long  been  in  disgrace,  and  his  first  sulky  appearance 
at  court  coincided  with  the  presence  of  De  Maisse. 
He  was,  of  course,  all  for  prosecuting  the  war  with 
renewed  vigour,  for  sending  Henry  large  subsidies, 
and  so  forth ;  for  he  dreaded,  as  did  Henry  himself, 
that  Elizabeth  and  Burghley  would  now  revert  to 
the  traditional  policy  and  themselves  make  a  sepa- 
rate peace  with  Spain,  leaving  France  out.  De 
Maisse  was  received  by  Elizabeth  four  times,  and 
even  then,  in  her  old  age,  the  consummate  skill  and 
invincible  vanity  which  had  made  her  the  great 
Queen  she  was  showed  more  conspicuously  than 
ever.  She  bared  her  withered  bosom  to  the  pit  of 
the  stomach  for  the  Frenchman's  delectation ;  ^  she 

^  Journal  de  Maisse,  Archives  Affaires  Etrangeres.    Quoted  by  Prevot 
Paradol. 


RIVAL   ENGLISH   PARTIES  283 

talked  of  her  foolishness  and  ugliness  to  provoke 
compliments,  which  she  swallowed  ;  she  apologised 
for  her  dowdiness  when  she  was  clothed  in  silver 
tissue  and  loaded  with  jewels.  She  was  coquettish, 
gay,  frivolous,  and  indelicate  ;  but  she  was  dignified, 
and  keenly  alert  when  the  question  of  English  inte- 
rests was  at  issue,  and  she  lost  no  point  in  the  game. 
De  Maisse  saw  that  she  was  playing  with  him,  and 
at  length  he  told  Lord  Burghley  that  the  long  delay 
in  giving  him  an  answer,  yea  or  nay,  as  to  the  Queen's 
willingness  to  negotiate  for  peace,  relieved  his  master 
of  his  pledges  to  refrain  from  making  a  separate 
treaty.  It  was  impossible,  Elizabeth  said,  for  her 
to  negotiate  finally  with  an  Archduke  ;  she  could 
only  make  peace  with  the  King  of  Spain  himself;  and 
how  could  she  tell  that  the  Archduke's  powers  were 
sufficient  even  to  negotiate  ?  All  this  was  simply  to 
delay,  whilst  she  aroused  the  fears  of  the  Dutch,  and 
played  her  own  game  during  the  month  or  more  that 
De  Maisse  was  being  kept  dangling  about  Whitehall. 
Both  he  and  his  master  knew  that  the  "  loyal " 
English  Catholics  in  Flanders,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Charles  Paget,  were  busy  with  separate 
negotiations  between  Elizabeth  and  the  Archduke 
himself. 

Approaches  had  been  made  by  Cecil's  agent, 
Barnes,  for  an  understanding  in  the  previous  year, 
but  had  been  rejected  by  the  Ai'chduke ;  but  on  the 
26th  December  (1597)  Paget  wrote  to  Cecil,  at  the 
Archduke's  request,  expressing  a  desire  for  a  friendly 
settlement  with  England,  and  thenceforward  a  brisk 
exchange  of  notes  took  place.  In  one  of  the  last  State 
Papers  that  old  Lord  Burghley  wrote,  he  sets  down 


2  84  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

by  his  favourite  method,  in  opposing  columns,  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  a  peace  as  pro- 
posed by  France.  It  would  be  an  advantage  that 
France  should  have  Calais  restored  ;  but  it  would  be  a 
disadvantage  that  the  English  could  not  then  hope  to 
recover  it.  English  trade  and  wealth  would  be  vastly 
increased  by  a  peace,  and  the  Queen  could  then 
"  avoid  the  insolence  of  the  King  of  Scots  ;"  but  it 
would  be  inconvenient  to  suddenly  disband  so  many 
soldiers.  The  main  difficulty,  however,  was  that 
the  Dutch  States  would  not  listen  to  any  peace  in 
which  their  absolute  independence  was  not  assured, 
and  this  Spanish  pride  would  not  brook.  It  was, 
moreover,  not  to  the  advantage  of  England  that  the 
new  Republic  should  become  friendly  with  France 
and  at  peace  with  Spain,  for  that  would  have  left 
England  isolated  indeed  now  that  Henry  was  a 
Catholic.  So,  although  Sir  Robert  Cecil  went  on  a 
hollow  embassy  to  France,  he  did  nothing  but  re- 
proach Henry  for  his  desertion  of  his  allies ;  and 
whilst  on  the  one  hand  the  States  were  encouraged 
by  Elizabeth  to  continue  their  resistance  a  outrance, 
the  English  Government  on  the  otl  er  became  more 
and  more  amiable  to  the  Archduke,  and  the  hopes 
of  all  sections  of  "  loyal "  English  Catholics  rose 
higher  and  higher. 

Their  plans  were  various,  and  mostly  visionary. 
Constable,  the  ardent  young  poet  in  France,  was  full 
of  the  notion  that  he  could  by  persuasion  convert 
the  Queen  herself.^  Charles  Paget  had  a  proposal 
to  request  Henry  IV.,  as  one  of  the  conditions  of 
peace,  to   urge    upon  the   Pope  the    withdrawal   of 

1  Petit  to  Phellips,  State  Papers,  Dom.,  October  21,  1597. 


THE    MODERATE   CATHOLICS        285 

all  the  Jesuits  from  England,  prohibiting  them  to 
return.  In  a  violent  attack  upon  the  Jesuit  methods 
he  says  to  Cecil,  "  I  can  assure  you  that  the  prin- 
cipal Catholics,  both  in  England  and  on  this  side  of 
the  sea,  that  have  longest  endured  for  the  cause  will 
be  glad  thereof,  for  as  the  said  Catholics  will  not 
receive  them  (the  Jesuits)  in  their  houses,  they  are 
termed  by  the  Jesuits  '  politics  '  or  old  Catholics."  ^ 
He  assured  Cecil  that  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
persuade  the  Pope  to  do  this,  "  for  if  Persons  had 
not  gone  to  Rome  just  when  he  did,  with  great  re- 
commendations from  Spain,  it  would  have  been  done 
before."  The  idea  evidently  was  that,  if  Jesuit 
methods  were  banished  from  England,  and  the  loyalty 
of  the  mass  of  the  English  Catholics  was  demon- 
strated, toleration  for  their  religion  would  follow. 
The  foreign  Catholics  of  the  King  of  Scots'  party 
also  were  not  idle.  Cardinal  Malvasia,  the  Nuncio, 
whom  we  saw  conferring  with  Pury  Ogilvie  in 
Brussels,  submitted  (October  1597)  a  long  discourse 
to  the  Pope  in  favour  of  investing  James  with  the 
crown  of  England,  on  the  assurance  that  both  the 
King  and  his  wife  would  be  "  converted."  "  But 
to  execute  this  plan  the  Pope  should  recall  from 
England  all  Jesuits,  and  such  priests  as  are  known 
to  be  of  the  contrary  faction,  leaving  only  those  who 
are  in  favour  of  the  Scot."  The  same  informer  (Petit) 
says  that  Lord  Dacre  had  gone  to  France,  hoping  to 
make  his  peace  with  Elizabeth,  and  his  son  was  to 
follow  him ;  "  and  some  day  the  Earl  of  West- 
moreland will  take  the  same  course.  They  like  hej- 
Majesty's  religion  better  than  they  like  the  Scot." 

'  State  Papers,  Dom.,  June  1598. 


286  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

It  must  have  been  evident  now  to  all  English 
Catholics  that  the  Jesuit  plan  of  forcing  Catholic 
supremacy  upon  England  by  violent  aggressive  action 
and  foreign  invasion  had  resulted  in  utter  failure. 
As  each  successive  loudly  vaunted  Spanish  fleet  had 
crept  back  baffled  and  disgraced,  not  only  had  the 
growing  impotence  of  Spain  been  proclaimed  to  the 
scoffing  world,  but  the  popular  Queen  and  the 
Protestant  cause  had  become  stronger  in  their  con- 
fidence to  resist  attack.  The  Catholic  cause  at  the 
same  time  had  grown  increasingly  odious  to  the 
mass  of  Englishmen,  because  it  had  been  possible  to 
blacken  it  by  connecting  it  with  treason  and  lack  of 
patriotism.  This  had  been  the  cause  of  the  ruin  of 
the  Catholic  League  in  France,  and  had  ended  there 
in  the  triumph  of  the  Moderates,  with  religious 
toleration  under  a  mild  Catholic  supremacy,  and  the 
expulsion  of  Jesuits  from  the  realm.  It  was  no 
wonder,  therefore,  that  the  English  Catholics  should 
be  anxious,  by  a  somewhat  similar  process,  to  obtain 
at  least  toleration,  and  to  dissever  themselves  from 
extreme  methods  and  aims  which,  after  eighteen 
years  of  constant  effort,  had  only  brought  to  them 
increased  sufferings,  and  had  rendered  ultimate  suc- 
cess more  hopeless  than  ever.  The  great  majority 
of  the  Catholics  would  have  been  content  now  to 
work  for  freedom  of  religious  observance,  trusting 
that  time,  patience,  and  opportunity  might  at  some 
future  time  enable  them  to  gain  the  upper  hand  in 
the  State ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  even  many  of  those 
who  had  grown  old  in  exile  were  wishful  for  a  re- 
conciliation which  should  restore  them  to  the  land 
of  their  birth  and  to  their  duty  as  subjects,  whilst 


JESUITS   OPPOSE   TOLERATION       287 

assuring-  them    against    persecution    on    account  of 
their  faith. 

But  compromise,  or  any  other  agreement  with  the 
"  heretic,"  was  of  all  things  that  least  desired  by  the 
Jesuit  faction.^  Domination  of  the  State  was  what 
they  aimed  at,  in  which  the  whole  national  life  was 
to  be  bound  up  with  and  subjected  to  the  sole  over- 
lordship  of  Christ — of  whom  they  were  the  officers. 
Kings,  potentates,  even  popes,  were  to  be  dwarfed 
finally  by  the  rule  of  Christ  alone  ;  and  when  Jesuits 
served  kings,  as  they  served  Philip,  it  was  only  for 
the  purpose  of  using  his  power  to  humble  in  the 
long  run  the  caste  to  which  he  belonged.  No  doubt 
the  Dominican  order  had  similar  dreams,  with  the 
Inquisition  as  its  instrument  in  Spain,  but  the  secular 
sovereigns  had  been  able  to  turn  this  great  engine 
to  their  own  ends.  The  Society  of  Jesus  was  founded 
on  principles  specially  devised  to  prevent  this  in  its 
own  case  ;  and  it  was  perfectly  consistent  with  those 
principles  in  utterly  rejecting  and  opposing  the  efforts 
of  the  secular  and  regular  clergy  to  arrive  at  a  modus 
Vivendi  in  England,  which  might  leave  the  question 
of  Catholic  supremacy  in  the  country  to  be  decided 
in  the  future. 

'  A  very  interesting  treatise,  written  at  this  period  (January  1598) 
from  Rome  by  Henry  Tichborne,  S.J.,  sets  forth  the  Jesuit  vi-w.  Their 
hopes  of  sincess  in  England,  he  says,  are  founded  on  the  high  credit  in 
which  Father  Persons  is  held  in  Rome,  and  Cresswell  and  Holt  in 
Madrid  and  Brussels.  He  rejoices  in  the  persecutions  in  England  as 
the  priiicipaK^ource  of  Jesuit  strength.  The  only  thing  to  be  ieared, 
hw  says,  is  the  ;-;ranting  of  liberty  of  conscience  in  England,  "which  is 
supposed  to  proceed  from  some  deeper  brain  than  our  ordinary  wits  are 
wont  to  yield."  The  writer  then  warns  his  fellows  against  "  such  a*; 
gape  after  that  lilierty,"  which,  he  says,  will  be  so  "dangerous  that  what 
rigour  of  law  could  not  compass  in  so  many  years,  liberty  and  levity 
will  effectuate  in  twenty  days"  (State  Papers,  Domestic,  Eliz.  cclxii. 
Printed  in  full  in  Law's  "Jesuits  and  Seculars"). 


2  88  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

Whilst,  therefore,  the  mass  of  Catholics  at  home 
and  abroad  were  striving  to  prove  their  loyalty  to 
the  crown,  the  Spanish  Jesuit  faction,  with  undi- 
minished boldness  and  ability,  were  working  still  to 
obtain  possession  of  England  by  means  of  foreign 
forces. 

The  Adelantado's  fleet  had  straggled  back  to  Spain, 
disheartened  and  plague-beset,  in  November  1597. 
The  King  was  slowly  dying,  in  agonies  almost  beyond 
human  endurance ;  his  exchequer  was  drained ;  his 
people  literally  starving ;  land  untilled  ;  industries 
ruined ;  corruption  and  demoralisation  supreme  in 
the  administration,  and  the  whole  country  was  a 
prey  to  spiritual  disillusionment  and  pagan  reaction, 
under  the  guise  of  writhing  devotion.  But,  withal, 
the  indomitable  spirit  of  Philip  himself  burned 
brightly  in  his  decaying  body,  and  the  Adelantado 
was  summoned  quickly,  not  as  the  news-letters  and 
spies  reported,  to  be  hanged,  but  to  consult  for  the 
despatch  of  a  new  expedition  in  the  following 
spring.  A  Scottish  sea-captain,  coming  from  Lisbon 
in  January  1598,  reported  to  the  English  officers 
that  the  fleet  making  ready  at  Ferrol  was  "to  be 
double  the  strength  of  that  which  came  last  year,"  ^ 
and  that  the  purpose  was  to  invade  England  in 
April  or  May,  whilst  in  Lisbon  itself  twelve  ships 
*vere  being  fitted  out,  and  twenty-two  bands  of 
soldiers  training. 

There  is  amongst  Lopez  de  Soto's  papers,'  a 
discourse  or  report  for  the  King's  guidance,  written 
soon  after  the  Adelantado's  return  from  his  interview 

^  state  Papers,  Domestic,  of  the  date.     Eeport  of  Wilson. 
2  British  Museum,  Add.  MSS.  28,420,  122. 


PLANS   FOR   A   FOURTH   ARMADA     289 

with  Philip  in  the  winter  of  1597,  with  recom- 
mendations as  to  the  measures  to  be  taken  for  the 
success  of  the  new  Armada  of  invasion.  The  paper 
could  never  have  been  written  by  Lopez  de  Soto 
himself,  as  it  ignores  all  the  practical  difficulties  ; 
and  its  obvious  and  sanctimonious  generalities 
almost  prove  it  to  have  been  one  of  those  inept 
*^  consultas"  which  the  Councils  usually  drew  up 
after  the  King  decided  upon  any  course  in  principle. 
But  it  is  extremely  instructive,  nevertheless,  as 
showing  how  entirely  affairs  were  managed  from 
hand  to  mouth,  and  how  the  King's  secretive 
monopoly  of  initiative  paralysed  all  action.  "  As 
his  Majesty  has  decided  to  take  the  course  de- 
manded by  the  good  of  Christendom,"  says  the 
document,  "we  will  proceed  to  consider  and  report 
upon  the  best  means  by  which  the  success  of  the 
undertaking  may  be  assured.  The  first  is  to  re- 
commend it  to  God,  and  to  endeavour  to  amend 
our  sins ;  but  since  his  Majesty  has  already  given 
a  general  order  to  this  effect,  and  has  appointed  a 
commander  who  usually  insists  upon  this  point, 
it  will  be  only  needful  to  take  care  that  the  order 
is  obeyed  and  to  promulgate  it  again.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  enemy  is  very  vigilant  and 
alert,  and  that  he  is  well  exercised.  This,  together 
with  the  need  for  fitting  out  our  expedition,  since 
we  cannot  divert  him  by  going  out  and  meeting 
him,  necessitates  that,  both  in  Spain  and  elsewhere, 
we  should  be  ready  at  all  points,  so  that  every  place 
should  be  able  to  defend  itself  without  calling  upon 
others."  This  bland  beginning  leads  up  to  a  re- 
commendation equally  silly,  considering  the  appalling 

T 


290  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

state  of  exhaustion  into  which  the  country  had  sunk. 
"  All  these  necessities  everywhere,"  it  is  sagely 
pointed  out,  will  call  for  a  vast  expenditure,  for 
which  the  money  must  be  collected  "  with  extra- 
ordinary rapidity,  and  by  every  licit  means  that  can 
be  devised.  In  order  to  examine  what  means  are 
licit,  a  committee  of  theologians  must  be  summoned, 
to  whom  so  great  a  matter  may  be  confided,  and 
their  opinion  should  be  adopted."  The  order 
already  given  to  Count  Santa  Gadea  to  land  and 
drill  the  army  is  approved  of,  so  that  it  may  be 
all  ready  for  the  spring ;  and  in  the  meanwhile  he 
must  be  supplied  with  money  and  victuals  from 
Galicia.  "  If  progress  is  made  in  Ireland  this 
winter,  as  is  hoped,  this  army  may  be  increased  in 
the  beginning  of  the  summer  by  a  sufficient  number 
of  Irish  troops,  and  we  may  then  cross  over  from 
there  (Ireland)  to  Wales  ;  and  if  at  the  same  time 
galleys  be  sent  to  Calais,  whence  a  powerful  army — 
collected  ostensibly  for  other  purposes  by  the  Ai'ch- 
duke — can  be  carried  across,  it  will  be  a  godsend 
to  the  main  enterprise.  At  the  same  time  the 
negotiations  of  Father  Persons  and  other  Catholics 
will  help."  The  consulta  then  dictates,  at  great 
length,  the  diplomatic  steps  to  be  taken  to  dissuade 
the   King   of    Scots, ^   the   Dutch,    the   D.anes,    the 

^  Excuses  are  proposed  to  be  adopted  for  sending  embassies  from  the 
Arcbduke  to  tbe  various  Protestant  potentates  on  tbis  matter,  tbe  pre- 
text in  the  case  of  tbe  King  of  Scots  being  "  to  inform  him  of  that  liar 
that  came  here."  Tbis  refers  no  doubt  to  the  mission  of  Pury  Ogilvie. 
The  proposal  to  send  an  envoy  to  Scotland  appears  to  have  been 
adopted.  The  notorious  George  Ker,  accompanied  by  a  secretary  of 
the  Archduke  named  Don  Diego  de  Spinoza,  went  from  Flanders  to 
Scotland  via  Calais  in  February,  and  were  shortly  afterwards  followed 
by  another  emissary  named  Cunuinghame.     Full  information  of  these 


ENGLISH   PREPARATIONS  291 

Italians,  and  the  Shereef  of  Barbary  from  aiding  the 
English  ;  but  it  ends,  as  it  begins,  with  the  opinion 
that  "the  principal  thing  is  the  money  which  can  be 
collected  legally,  since  what  is  illegal  is  prohibited  ; 
and  this  is  a  time  when  no  licit  means  must  be  spared." 
Let  us  contrast  this  mealy-mouthed  impracticability 
with  the  methods  adopted  in  England  to  meet  the 
threatened  new  attack.  The  recommendation  to 
send  the  Spanish  galleys  to  Calais  was  adopted 
rapidly,  doubtless  in  order  to  make  use  of  the  port 
in  landing  large  reinforcements  for  the  Archduke, 
before  the  signature  of  the  treaty  M'ith  France 
deprived  the  Spaniards  of  it.  In  any  case,  England 
was  cast  into  a  renewed  ferment  by  the  news 
received  in  February  1598  that  a  Spanish  fleet  had 
arrived  unmolested  in  the  narrow  seas.  From  a 
Spanish  sailor  captured  and  carried  into  Dover 
it  was  learnt  that  38  fiyboats  full  of  soldiers,  5000 
of  them,  had  sailed  under  the  veteran  Admiral 
Bertondona  from  Corunna  to  Calais.  The  sailor 
said  that  they  had  left  18  large  well-appointed  ships 
at  Corunna,  and  that  5000  Italian  troops  were  in 
the  neighbourhood  ready  for  embarkation,  but 
many  of  them  were  dying  of  dysentery.  After  the 
troops  had  been  landed  at  Calais,  the  38  fiyboats, 
he  said,  were  to  return  to  Lisbon  to  be  re-victualled, 
and  then  to  sail  under  Diego  Brochero.^ 

embassies  were  sent  by  Colville  in  Boulogne  to  Essex,  and  the  intelli- 
gence aroused  great  uneasiness  in  England,  the  belief  being  that  James 
was  now  in  close  negotiation  with  Spain.  As  we  have  seen  above,  the 
object  of  the  Spaniards  was  simply  to  prevent  James  from  aiding  the 
English  against  them.  (See  Colville's  letters  in  Hatfield  Papers,  vol. 
viii.) 

1  Examination  of  Pedro  Martinez.     State  Papers,   Domestic,  Feb- 
ruary 16,  1598. 


292  TREASON    AND   PLOT 

All  this  was  alarming  enough,  for  it  was  known 
that  the  peace  was  as  good  as  signed  between 
France  and  Spain,  and  Secretary  Cecil  himself  was 
crossing  the  Channel  on  his  mission  to  Henry  IV. 
Essex  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  receive  the 
news,  and  he  wrote  post-haste  to  Cecil,  telling  him 
that  the  Spaniards  were  in  Calais  roads.  The  Earl 
of  Cumberland  had  been  ordered  to  go  thither 
immediately  with  such  ships  as  he  could  collect, 
and  to  follow  the  Spaniards  wherever  they  went. 
The  Lord  Admiral,  with  his  kinsman  Lord  Thomas 
Howard,  had  rushed  down  to  Gravesend  and  Queen- 
borough  to  fit  out  fresh  vessels  with  all  speed. 
Lord  Cobham  had  ridden  as  hard  as  horses  could 
gallop  to  Dover  Castle  ;  the  Lord  Chamberlain  had 
gone  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  with  equal  speed,  and 
Sir  Walter  Ralegh  was  commissioned  to  furnish 
provisions  all  along  the  coast ;  whilst  Essex  him- 
self was  to  stand  ready  to  repel  attack  at  any 
point.  "  Above  all,  the  Queen  commands  that  you 
(Cecil)  are  not  to  put  to  sea."  This,  be  it  recollected, 
was  only  one  day  after  the  news  came  that  the 
Spanish  flyboats  w^ere  in  English  waters.  A  letter 
bringing  at  the  same  time  the  intelligence  to  his 
father  and  the  Lord  Admiral  had  also  come  from 
Cecil  himself,^  who  had  safely  crossed  to  Dieppe. 
Burghley  was  dying,  and  was  only  useful  now  in 
council ;  but  Howard  wrote  to  him  from  Graves- 
end  (February  17)  deploring  that  so  few  English 
ships  had  remained  in  the  Straits  of  Dover,  most 

^  The  letter  bore  the  superscription,  "For  life,  for  life,  for  very 
life,"  and  had  a  gallows  drawn  upon  it  as  a  hint  to  the  postman  of  the 
consequences  of  delay. 


ENGLISH   ACTIVITY  293 

of  them  having  gone  west  to  escort  Cecil  to  Dieppe 
— "  and  yet,"  he  says,  "  her  Majesty  commanded 
me  to  lessen  them.  In  my  opinion  these  ships 
(the  Spaniards)  will  watch  a  turn  to  do  something 
on  our  coast ;  and  if  they  hear  our  ships  are  gone 
to  Dieppe,  I  think  them  beasts  if  they  do  not  burn 
or  spoil  Dover  or  Sandwich.  What  4000  men 
may  do  on  a  sudden  I  leave  to  your  Lordship's 
judgment.  I  hope  it  shall  cost  them  dear  if  they 
attempt  it.  There  is  nothing  here,  at  Gravesend,  to 
impeach  anything  but  two  silly  forts."  ^ 

There  was  no  dismay  here  ;  no  boggling  about 
the  theologian's  views  of  what  was  licit  in  a 
moment  of  national  emergency :  only  a  determina- 
tion to  resist  invasion  to  the  death,  unprepared 
though  England  was.^  Warned  by  the  threat  at 
Falmouth  in  the  previous  year,  Sir  Nicholas  Parker 
had  been  sent  to  fortify  the  place.  Sir  Francis 
Godolphin  had  mustered  his  Cornish  levies  and 
was  standing  ready ;  whilst,  as  we  have  seen,  not 
an  hour  was  lost,  when  the  danger  in  the  narrow 
sea  was  known,  in  buckling  on  the  national  armour 
to  resist.  But  there  need  have  been  no  fear.  The 
wind  blew  dead  off  Calais,  and  eighteen  of  the  fiy- 

1  Lord  Admiral  to  Lord  Burghley,  February  17,  1598.  State  Papers, 
Domestic. 

-  Even  Cecil  and  Essex  pulled  together  in  this  hour  of  danger.  The 
Earl  had  promised  the  Secretary  tliat  he  would  not  take  advantaije  of 
his  absence  to  injure  him  or  to  bring  about  any  change,  and  he  kept 
his  word.  We  have  seen  that  lie  wrote  to  Cecil  the  hour  that  he  heard 
the  news,  and  Cecil  wrote  to  him,  on  the  day  of  his  arrival  at  Dii-ppe  : 
"As  the  Queen's  affairs  must  have  a  good  portion  of  our  minds,  1  do 
hope,  now  that  God  has  disposed  us  to  love  and  kindness,  we  shall 
overcome  all  petty  doubts  about  wliat  the  world  may  judge  of  our 
correspondency  "  (State  Papers,  Domestic,  Cecil  to  Essex,  February  19, 
1598). 


294  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

boats,  huddled  under  the  guns  of  the  fortress  to 
escape  the  Earl  of  Cumberland's  ships,  were  lost. 
The  rest  of  them,  when  they  got  into  the  harbour, 
and  the  main  English  squadron  came  up  from 
Dieppe,  dared  not  venture  out  again  for  fear  of 
the  English,  and  their  absence  crippled  the  arma- 
ment fitting  out  in  Spain. 

In  April  an  English  Catholic  of  the  Jesuit  faction 
wrote  from  Lisbon  already  casting  doubt  upon  the 
possibility  of  any  attempt  being  made  upon  England 
that  year.  "Alas  !  "  he  says,  "  the  King  is  not  well 
provided  with  means  for  recovering  our  country 
and  establishing  the  Catholic  religion  there."  The 
theologians  had  probably  not  yet  settled  what  were 
the  "licit"  ways  of  raising  the  wind.  The  celerity 
of  the  English  methods  had  already,  in  the  six 
weeks  that  had  elapsed  since  the  flyboats  came  to 
Calais,  enabled  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  to  assume 
the  offensive.  "  The  archpirate  Cumberland  is  re- 
ported to  be  on  the  coast,"  writes  the  Catholic  in 
Lisbon,  "  so  that  the  five  great  carricks  for  the 
East  Indies  dare  not  go  forth.  Pray  entertain  all 
good  Catholics  in  devotion,  and  what  the  King 
cannot  do  this  year,  he  will  do  next.  Want  of 
skill  in  the  mariners'  last  voyage  and  the  sending 
of  those  ships  to  Calais  has  weakened  his  naval 
force,  and  sickness  his  land  forces.  However, 
the  heretics  are  defending  their  coasts  at  home,  so 
there  is  no  fear  of  their  making  any  attempt  here." 

In  fact,  famine  and  pestilence,  in  combination 
with  the  administrative  incompetence,  of  which  we 
have  seen  instances  in  the  documents  quoted,  had 
already  made    another   expedition    to   England   im- 


SPAIN'S   UTTER   EXHAUSTION        295 

possible  in  1598.  80  abjectly  terrified  were  the 
Spaniards,  moreover,  at  the  mere  presence  of  Cum- 
berland's ships  in  their  waters,  that  the  five  great 
Indiamen  outward  bound  were  brought  again  to 
the  quay  at  Lisbon  and  discharged,  their  cargoes 
coming  as  a  very  boon  from  heaven  to  the  famished 
city.  The  annual  fleet  for  America,  too,  dared  not 
sail  from  Seville  for  fear  of  capture  ;  ^  and  thus  the 
whole  great  commerce  of  Spain  for  the  year  was 
stopped,  to  the  ruin  of  merchants  and  the  despair 
of  Philip's  treasurers,  because  a  few  English  ships 
were  on  the  coast,"  although  a  much  stronger  force, 
45  ships,  we  are  told,  were  now  ready  for  sea  in 
Corunna  harbour,  and  the  Adelantado's  fleet  of  20 
great  ships  and  140  small  craft  still  lay  in  Ferrol 
unable  to  get  crews.^ 

A  foe  thus  dispirited  and  so  exhausted  in  moral 
and  material  resource  was  ludicrously  incapable  of 
forcing  Catholic  supremacy  upon  England  at  the 
sword's  point,  Spain,  like  a  bankrupt  ex-millionaire 
or  a  palsied  prize-fighter,  continued  to  inspire  respect 
or  fear  by  the  tradition  of  her  former  potency, 
which  itself  had  largely  depended  in  her  best  days 
upon  the  artificial  spiritual  exaltation  bred  of  re- 
ligious intolerance.  Rut  the  strengthening  effects  of 
the  stimulant  were  mostly  gone  now,  except  amongst 

'  Van  Harnack  to  Cecil  from  Lisbon,  May  i,  1598.  State  Papers, 
Domestic. 

-  A  shipmaster  from  Lisbon  reports  to  Cecil  in  June  (State  Papers, 
Domestic),  that  the  Adelantado  with  20  great  ships  and  140  others 
was  at  Ferrol,  but  had  no  mariners.  Two  forts  liad  been  l»uilt  at  the 
mouth  of  the  harbour  for  fear  of  the  English  attacking  the  ships  as 
they  lay  at  anchor.  There  were  15,000  soldiers,  but  sickness  was  very 
prevalent,  and  every  one  was  greatly  afraid  of  the  English  tleet. 

^  Keport  of  Savage,  February  18,  1598.     State  Papers,  Domestic. 


296  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

the  very  ignorant.  Gross  superstition  and  a  slavish 
obedience  to  religious  forms  barely  veiled  the  blackest 
paganism.  There  was  no  longer  a  confident  belief 
that  the  Spaniards  were  the  chosen  militia  of  the 
Lord,  for  they  themselves  saw  that  the  contemned 
"  heretic "  worked  his  will  with  them  on  the  sea 
whenever  he  met  them.  Priests  and  friars  might 
urge  as  before  upon  Spaniards  the  sacred  duty  of 
making  other  nations  as  perfect  in  the  eye  of  Heaven 
as  they  were  themselves.  It  still  flattered  their 
native  pride  and  the  vanity  of  a  people  sunk  in 
poverty,  sloth,  and  ignorance  to  be  told  that  their 
sovereign  was  the  richest  and  most  powerful  on 
earth,  and  that  they  themselves  were  a  people  in- 
finitely superior  to  all  others.  But  they  individually 
were  content  to  sit  down  and  enjoy  the  fact.  They, 
poor  wretches,  like  other  peoples  of  their  time,  were 
pressed  for  service  when  the  King  deigned  to  need 
their  carcasses,  but  they  were  no  longer  upheld,  as 
they  had  been  in  1588,  with  the  assurance  of  inevit- 
able heaven-sent  victory  over  the  enemies  of  the 
Lord.  They  went  forth  now  trembling  with  fear  at 
the  "  devilish  folk,"  and  with  dumb  misgivings  that, 
sacred  banners  and  blessed  beads  notwithstanding, 
the  powers  of  darkness  were  stronger  than  the 
powers  of  light.  Thus  one  by  one  the  weapons  by 
which  Philip  had  dreamed  of  forcing  religious  uni- 
formity upon  the  world  were  bending  in  the  hands 
of  their  wielders.  The  spiritual  exaltation  of  his 
people  had  faded  in  the  face  of  repeated  failure,  the 
national  ambitions  behind  his  devout  professions  had 
been  found  out,  and  the  English  Catholics,  who  had 
so  long  served  him  for  a  stalking-horse,  were  yearn- 


HOPES   OF   PEACE  297 

ing  for  concord  under  their  national  flag  on  almost 
any  conditions  which  would  leave  them  unmolested 
for  their  faith. 

This  was  the  feeling  that  prompted  most  moderate 
men  in  England  during  the  spring  of  1598  to  hope 
and  believe  that  means  would  be  found  to  bring 
about  peace  between  England  and  Spain,  even  if  it 
meant  the  abandonment  by  Elizabeth  of  the  Dutch. 
**  We  are  all  of  opinion  that  the  peace  goes  for- 
ward," wrote  John  Chamberlain  on  the  20th  May.  .  .  . 
Barnevelt,  the  agent  and  advocate  of  the  States,  is 
here,  aud  hath  had  audience  these  two  days  to- 
gether, but  I  fear  we  are  deafe  on  that  side  and 
no  musike  will  please  us  unles  it  be  to  the  tune  of 
peace."  ^  Essex,  as  usual,  struggled  against  a  paci- 
cation  which  would  draw  England  into  any  com- 
promise with  Spain  and  the  Catholics,  and  Lord 
Burghley,  almost  with  his  dying  breath,  solemnly 
rebuked  the  young  Earl  for  his  attitude ;"  but  the 
signature  of  the  peace  of  Vervins  and  the  vigorous 
renewed  action  of  the  Archduke  against  the  States 
finally  made  it  necessary  for  Elizabeth  to  continue 
her  active  support  of  the  latter,  whilst  still  making 
the  approaches  towards  Spain  invariably  resorted  to 
by  the  Cecil  party  when  France  was  at  peace. ^ 

'  Letters  of  John  Chamberlain.  Camden  Society  and  State  Papers, 
Domestic. 

-  Essex  wrote  an  elaborate  and  eloquent  "Apology  "  for  his  action  at 
this  time.  It  was  reprinted  in  1603,  and  is  usually  included  in  Francis 
Bacon's  works,  although  it  is  not  by  him. 

■'  In  July  the  States  sent  three  rej)rosentatives  to  beg  the  Queen  to 
continue  the  war  vigorously  in  their  aid,  "as  in  her  Council  there  are 
not  lacking  those  who  recommend  this  course,  chielly  the  Earl  ol  Essex, 
but  the  Lord  Treasurer  is  opposed,  and  more  important  still  the  Queen 
herself  is  inclined  to  peace"  (The  Venetian  Ambassador  in  France  to 
the  Doge). 


298  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

The  principal  argument  used  by  the  advocates  of 
a  settlement,  besides  the  obvious  advantages  it  would 
bring  to  commerce,  and  the  need  for  national  tran- 
quillity, was  the  threatening  state  of  affairs  in  Ire- 
land.^ We  left  Tyrone  at  the  close  of  the  year  1597 
enjoying  a  two-months'  sulky  truce  instead  of  the 
two  years'  cessation  for  which  he  had  asked.  The 
Irish  Government  had  continued  to  press  the  Queen 
for  strong  reinforcements,  for  it  was  evident  now 
that  Tyrone  meant  to  head  a  great  rising  of  the 
north  and  west.  The  Council  in  Dublin,  whose 
policy  towards  Tyrone  made  peace  impossible,  to 
the  despair  of  soldiers  like  Norreys  and  Fenton, 
were  inept  and  doubly  unable  to  conduct  the  war 
they  provoked,  first,  by  reason  of  their  own  slow 
bureaucratic  stupidity,  and  secondly,  because  the 
home  Government  sent  the  resources  they  prayed 
for  in  grudging  driblets,  which  always  made  large 
operations  impossible.  In  the  meanwhile  Leinster 
was  being  ravaged  by  O'Connors,  O'Mores,  Molloys, 
and    O'Byrnes    with    the    assistance   of  numbers   of 

1  John  Chamberlain  writes  (May  20)  :  "  Another  motive  to  the  peace 
is  the  troubles  of  Ireland,  which  are  like  to  put  the  Quene  to  exceding 
charge,  and,  withal,  there  appears  to  be  a  black  clowde  in  Scotland 
that  threatens  a  storm."  "  Matters  in  Ireland  grow  daily  worse  and 
worse,  so  that  unles  they  have  round  and  speedy  succour,  all  is  like  to 
go  to  wracke.  The  Council  have  consulted  about  it  these  three  or  fower 
days,  but  I  hear  of  no  resolution,  but  only  that  4000  men  shal  be  sent  at 
leisure."  On  the  31st  May  the  same  indefatigable  gossip  writes  to  his 
friend  :  "  In  the  meane  time  the  state  of  Ireland  stands  on  ill  terms,  for 
we  are  so  wholly  possessed  with  this  imaginary  peace  that  we  cannot 
attend  it.  Not  past  eight  days  since  it  was  decreed  that  Sir  Richard 
Bingham,  Sir  Samuel  Bagnol,  and  Sir  Henry  Docwra  should  be  sent 
thither  with  each  a  regiment  of  2000  men,  but  that  course  is  altered,  and 
now  they  talk  that  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  and  Sir  George  Carew  should 
undertake  it;  but  how  long  that  will  hold  is  xmcertain  "  (Chamberlain's 
Letters). 


THE   IRISH    REBELLION  299 

Ulstermen  from  Tyrone's  country,  whilst  the  English- 
Irish  garrisons^  in  Newry,  Dundalk,  and  Cavan,  iso- 
lated and  starving,  were  in  despair.  Ormonde  during 
the  truce  had  managed  to  rc-victual  the  important 
fort  on  the  Blackwater  and  had  done  his  best  to 
pacify  Leinster,  but  when  he  met  Tyrone  in  con- 
ference at  Dundalk  (March  14,  1598),  he  found  that 
the  "arch-rebel"  had  been  even  more  than  busy. 

Around  Tyrone  now  were  grouped  all  the  hoarded 
discontents  of  Ireland,  looking  to  him  for  redress. 
For  four  days  the  Queen's  commissioners  met  Tyrone 
on  the  "  parley  hill,"  by  Uundalk,  and  told  him  that 
the  sovereign,  "  having  seen  his  submission,  had 
condescended  to  pardon  him  on  certain  conditions." 
This  was  very  well  as  far  as  it  went,  but  Tyrone 
insisted  upon  terms  being  granted  to  his  confede- 
rates. Many  of  these  were  still  in  arms  ;  O'Donnell 
himself  was  skulking  in  his  mountains  of  Donegal  ; 
but  the  claim  gave  to  Tyrone  what  he  wanted  most, 
namely,  a  further  delay  in  which  he  might  con- 
centrate and  arm  his  bands  for  the  struggle. 
Ormonde  strove  to  please  him,  giving  way  on  most 
points,  and  condoning  for  his  sake  even  the  Lein- 
ster ravages  of  the  O'Connors  and  O'Mores ;  for, 
truth  to  tell,  the  Anglo-Irish  were  not  strong  enough 
now  to  fight  the  rebel,  and  the  latter  knew  it  well." 

1  Not  aliove  a  fifth  of  the  soldiers  on  tlie  Queen's  side  in  Ireland  at 
the  time  were  English,  and  suspicions  of  their  steadfastness  were  con- 
stantly expressed  by  the  English  governors. 

^  Brian  Roe  O'More,  writing  shortly  after  this  to  Tyrone,  asking  him 
to  procure  the  release  of  Morris  Oge  O'Connor,  who  had  been  arrested 
by  Ormonde,  said  of  the  English,  "  By  God's  grace,  there  is  ik^  stand  in 
the  churls,  if  your  honour  would  set  upon  them  now  ;  for  all  Ireland 
would  have  been  at  your  command  by  this,  if  it  had  not  been  for  your 
parleys  and  truces"  (Irish  State  Papers). 


300  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Still  it  suited  his  present  purpose  to  defer  open 
warfare  ;  and  when,  a  month  later  (April  14),  he 
again  met  the  Queen's  men  in  parley,  this  time  with 
O'Donnell  by  his  side,  another  six  weeks'  truce  was 
concluded. 

But  there  was  no  possibility  of  deception  any 
longer  as  to  his  high  aims.  "  A  traitor  will  always 
be  a  traitor  "  (wrote  one  of  the  commissioners),  "  do 
what  a  man  may.  Tyrone's  unhappy  successes  in 
some  bickerings  against  us,  the  knowledge  of  his 
own  strength,  expectation  of  foreign  help,  and  the 
confidence  he  hath  in  the  multitude  of  his  par- 
takers .  .  .  hath  puffed  him  up  with  such  pride 
and  haughtiness  of  mind  as  cannot  be  reformed  but 
by  chastisement  and  correction.  "  ^  And  the  soldier 
Teuton  wrote  even  more  emphatically  :  "  Now  the 
traitor  being  discovered  to  the  bottom,  and  his 
conspiracies,  practised  in  etiect  with  all  the  Irish  in 
the  realm,  made  apparent,  her  Majesty  seeth  now 
what  to  trust  unto ;  not  to  depend  more  upon 
treaties  and  parleys,  but  to  turn  her  mercy  into 
revenge,  and  proceed  really  to  his  prosecution." 
During  the  first  parley  the  Bishop  of  Meath,  re- 
proaching Tyrone  with  his  evident  wish  to  delay 
matters,  said :  "  It  is  likely  you  look  for  the  Span- 
iards, and  it  is  like  enough  they  will  deceive  you, 
as  they  have  done  ;  and  if  they  keep  touch  with 
you,  you  and  they  shall  find  her  Majesty  cares  little." 
Then  Tyrone  drew  his  sword,  and  swore  on  the 
cross  of  its  hilt,  "  I  look  neither  for  Spaniards  nor 
Scots  to  help  me,  but  I  would  not  have  it  be  said 
that  I  should  be  counted  a  perjured  wretch  to  those 

1  The  Bishop  of  Meath,  April  18,  1598  (Irish  State  Papers), 


TYRONE   AND   THE   SPANIARDS     301 

that  I  am  sworn   unto,   and  to  leave   them   in   the 

d"  1 
anger. 

It  was  possibly  true  that  Tyrone  at  this  juncture 
had  no  desire  or  expectation  of  receiving  in  Ireland 
Spanish  forces  powerful  enough  to  make  him  a 
vassal  of  Philip,  but  he  must  have  been  fully  alive 
to  the  advantage  which  would  accrue  to  his  cause 
if  he  could  identify  it  with  those  of  Catholicism  and 
Irish  patriotism.  As  a  pure  fact,  both  this  rising 
and  those  of  the  Desmonds  thirty  years  before,  were 
mainly  prompted  by  a  desire  of  the  greater  chieftains 
to  return  to  a  state  of  things  which  formerly  had 
given  them  the  position  of  petty  princes,  holding 
the  smaller  chiefs  and  the  people  in  vassalage,  from 
which  the  English  rule  had  to  a  great  extent  eman- 
cipated them.  But  this,  as  an  avowed  object  of  a 
rebellion,  would  have  been  unwise,  and  patriotism 
and  religion  were  necessary  fuel  to  set  the  revolu- 
tion in  motion.  Tyrone  must  have  known  that  the 
domination  of  Spain  over  Ireland  would  have  been 
infinitely  more  grinding  than  that  of  England  ;  but 
to  link  the  cause  of  Ireland  with  that  of  Catholic 
supremacy,  and  thus  to  gain  the  sympathetic  support 
of  England's  most  powerful  enemy,  was  a  diplomatic 
move  which  was  no  doubt  considered  of  the  hio^hest 
importance  to  his  success.  We  have  seen  that  Philip's 
Council,  in  the  winter  of  1597,  had  counted  upon 
Tyrone's  being  sufficiently  successful  against  the  Eng- 
lish in  the  spring  to  be  able  to  ship  an  Irish  force  upon 
the  Spanish  fleet  intended  to  invade  England.  That 
fleet,  as  has  been  related,  had  already  (in  April  or  May 
1598)  been  reduced  to  impotent  hopelessness  by  mis- 

^  The  Bishop  of  Meath,  April  i8,  1598  (Irish  State  Papers). 


302  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

management,  pestilence,  poverty,  and  fear  of  the 
English,  and  doubtless  Tyrone  was  kept  well  in- 
formed of  the  progress  of  events.  Thomas  Lalley, 
who,  it  will  be  recollected,  had  been  sent  to  Spain 
by  the  Connaught  chiefs  in  the  previous  year,  had 
remained  at  Philip's  court,  and  continued  to  send 
advices,  and  the  Bishop  of  Killaloe  was  still  cease- 
lessly urging  the  Irish  cause  in  Lisbon.^ 

But  what  caused  much  more  anxiety  than  this  to 
the  Anglo-Irish  Government  at  the  time  was  the 
presence  in  Spain  of  Tyrone's  secretary,  Brimingham. 
The  special  cause  for  anxiety  in  this  case  was  the  fact 
that  James  Stuart,  having  been  informed  by  Essex  of 
the  secret  plans  of  the  moderate  Catholic  party,  pro- 
bably with  the  connivance  of  Cecil,  to  come  to  an 
understanding  with  the  Archduke,  in  which  the  suc- 
cession of  Arabella  Stuart  should  form  a  part,  had 
begun  to  show  increasingly  the  "  insolence  "  of  which 
old  Lord  Burghley  spoke  in  his  discussion  as  to  the 
advantages  of  peace.  Tyrone  was  glad  to  welcome 
any  aid,  and  in  September  1597  sent  Brimingham 
to  Scotland  to  seek  James's  co-operation,  in  union 
with  that  of  Spain  and  the  Catholics,  who  in  return 
would  assure  him  the  succession  to  the  English 
throne.  James  was  delighted,  and  sent  Brimingham 
to  Spain  with  a  Scottish   companion.^     If  Tyrone 

^  Van  Harnack  reported  to  Cecil  from  Lisbon  (April  29)  that  the 
Griffin  flyboat  was  carrying  to  Ireland  a  suspicious  Jesuit  by  order 
of  the  Irish  bishop  (State  Papers,  Domestic). 

'^  The  Scotsman  Fleming  was  an  agent  of  Tyrone,  sent  to  purchase 
powder  and  munitions.  Both  he  and  Brimingham  had  a  narrow  escape 
from  capture  by  the  English  and  Huguenots  in  Rochelle  ;  but  Fleming 
managed  to  run  some  cargoes  of  ammunition  from  Bordeaux  to  Loch 
Foyle,  whilst  Brimingham  went  on  his  mission  to  Madrid,  where  the 
King's  mortal  illness,  and  the  complete  disorganisation  that  reigned 


JAMES    FAVOURS   1  YRONE  303 

had  only  understood  it,  this  was  an  infallihle  means 
for  eftectually  stoppinf]^  l^hilip  from  sending  him 
any  valid  aid.  But  hoth  he  and  James  himself 
failed  to  see  this,  and  the  latter  especially  gave 
himself  great  airs  on  what  douhtless  appeared  to 
him  a  certain  way  of  gaining  Catholic  support  for 
his  claims.  He  went  so  far  as  to  make  a  statement 
of  his  rights  and  hopes  in  the  Scottish  Parliament 
in  the  last  days  of  1597  which  stirred  Elizabeth  to 
positive  fury.  She  sent  Sir  William  Bowes  to  him 
with  a  letter,  which  remains  still  an  almost  un- 
rivalled specimen  of  her  powers  of  vituperation. 
"Look  you  not,  therefore,  that  without  large 
amends,"  she  said,  "I  may  or  will  shipper  up  such 
indignities."  ^  But  even  to  Bowes  himself  James 
could  hardly  attempt  to  disguise  his  elation  that 
Tyrone  and  he  were  in  alliance,"  and  that  Spain 
would  certainly  be  on  their  side,  though  to  Elizabetli 
herself  he  wrote  a  whimpering  apology  and  semi- 

(added  to  tlie  fact  that  James  Stuart  was  now  concerned  in  the  business) 
prevented  his  success  so  far  as  material  aid  was  concerned  (Irish  State 
Papers). 

'  Letters  of  Elizabeth  and  James  (Camden  Society). 

^  Petit,  the  spy  in  Antwerp,  wrote  to  Phellips,  June  4,  1598  :  "If  1 
were  not  acquainted  with  Scottish  brags,  I  might  believe  that  England 
was  already  more  than  half  theirs.  The  King  of  Denmark's  brother  is 
going  to  do  wonders.  The  Duke  of  Mayenne  is  to  be  general  in 
England,"  &c.  (State  Papers,  Domestic).  In  a  letter  written  by 
Nicholson  to  Cecil  in  August  (John  Colville's  Letters)  he  details  a 
conversation  he  had  had  with  Secretary  Eljihinstone  relative  to  the 
complaint  made  by  the  English  Government  to  James  on  the  presence 
in  Scotland  of  agents  of  the  Irish  rebels  "  The  King  said  he  sought  no 
purgation  in  that  matter.  There  were  none  (Irish  envoys)  here  ;  and 
if  there  were,  or  ^lacSorley,  or  yet  Tyrone,  or  yet  O'Donnell,  why 
might  not  they  go  as  well  in  Edinburgh  streets  as  Bothwell  and  John 
Colville  in  London?"  The  next  da}"-  Nicholson  saw  James  himself, 
who  told  him  he  knew  of  no  Irish  agents  there,  but  still  harped  upon 
the  welcome  accorded  by  Elizabeth  to  his  own  fugitive  subjects. 


304  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

denial.  So  whilst  Brimingham  wrote  "  comfortable" 
letters  from  Spain  to  his  master,  and  James  Stuart 
was  promising  armies  and  navies  to  Tyrone  in  the 
hope  of  obtaining  the  subsequent  aid  of  Ireland  and 
Spain  to  his  pretentions  to  the  English  crown,  the 
"  arch-rebel"  waxed  in  strength  and  pride.  Thirteen 
thousand  English  infantry  would  be  needed  in  Ulster 
alone,  reported  experienced  English  officers,  before 
Tyrone  could  be  put  down.  The  rebel  wealth  in 
cattle  must  be  raided,  for  Ulster  will  never  be 
established  in  dutiful  obedience  "  so  well  by  the 
dent  of  the  sword  as  if  it  should  also  come  by  the 
cruelty  of  famine."  ^  But  the  Government  in  London 
refused  to  understand  the  gravity  of  the  position, 
and  continued  to  send  reinforcements  in  drafts 
of  hundreds,  instead  of  by  thousands.  In  vain  the 
alarmed  Council  in  Dublin  wrote  that  they  them- 
selves were  in  daily  danger  of  massacre,  and 
bemoaned  weakly  to  Lord  Burghley  their  "  miser- 
able and  distressed  estate."  The  Leinster  chiefs, 
whose  rebellion  had  been  condoned,  broke  out 
worse  than  ever ;  and  as  soon  as  Tyrone's  last 
truce  expired  in  June  he  sent  a  strong  force  of 
Ulstermen  down  to  help  them,  whilst  with  other 
detachments  he  surrounded  the  important  fort  on 
the  Blackwater  and  isolated  the  castle  of  Cavan." 

1  Irish  State  Paper?.  It  was  estimated  by  Captain  Mostyn  that 
400,000  head  or  more  of  cattle  could  be  lifted.  He  says  that  he  him- 
self saw  O'Donnell  take  30,000  head  in  one  morning  a  little  above 
Roscommon.  Tyrone's  secretary  also  told  Mostyn  that  if  the  Earl 
levied  a  subsidy  of  one  shilling  on  each  milch-cow  in  county  Tyrone 
alone,  he  could  raise  between  ^^6000  and  £7000. 

2  Fenton  wrote  to  Cecil,  June  11,  1598,  detailing  the  plans  for 
succouring  Cavan  and  protecting  the  Pale,  but  saying,  "But  yet 
touching  the  Blackwater  I  see  not  but  it  must  be  left  to  the  valour 


BATTLE   OF   ARMAGH  305 

There  were  not  sufficient  English  forces  in  Ireland 
to  withstand  him  effectually  anywhere,  and  the 
most  that  could  be  done  by  Ormonde  was  to  defend 
Leinster  and  repel  the  incursions  into  the  Pale. 
All  the  north  and  centre  outside  the  walled  garrisons 
was  in  open  rebellion  against  the  Queen.  Panic- 
stricken  messengers  rushed  daily  into  Dublin  with 
false  news  of  Spanish  fleets  anchored  in  Loch  Foyle  ; 
of  great  victories  gained  by  Tyrone  ;  of  fresh  risings 
in  Connaught,  and  the  like  ;  whilst  the  miserable 
Council  of  llegency  could  only  continue  to  write 
despairing  letters  to  London.  In  the  meanwhile 
Tyrone's  dispositions  were  skilfully  made.  He 
pushed  bodies  of  men  down  on  the  west  of  the  Pale 
to  Longford,  and  on  the  north  to  Meath  and  Dundalk, 
whilst  he  raised  the  clans  of  Lower  Leinster,  and  the 
English  Governors  soon  found  themselves  in  danger 
of  being  entirely  surrounded  by  land.  The  English 
reinforcements,  when  at  length  they  came  in  July, 
reached  only  2000  men,^  not  sufficient  to  defend 
even  the  province  of  Leinster,  with  which  Ormonde 
was  chiefly  concerned ;  but  the  indignant  remon- 
strances of  the  English  officers  at  the  orders  that  the 
fort  on  the  Blackwater  should  be  surrendered  to 
Tyrone,  forced  the  Government  to  divert  a  portion 
of  the  English  reinforcements  to  that  point. 

and  fortune  of  the  garrison  there,  for  there  is  no  means  here  to  put 
an  army  on  foot  to  rescue  it." 

^  These  mt-n  deserted  as  soon  as  they  could,  and  great  complaints 
were  made  that  the  captains  quickly  filletl  up  their  places  with  "  mere 
Irish,"  for  whom  they  drew  the  same  pay.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  when 
it  came  to  actual  fighting,  the  Irish,  though  of  doubtful  allegiance, 
were  worth  a  great  deal  more.  At  the  crucial  moment  of  the  battle  of 
the  Blackwater,  the  newly  arrived  English  levies  refused  to  fight  at  all, 
casting  away  their  arms  and  bolting  (Irish  State  Papers). 

U 


3o6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Tyrone  in  person  had  for  a  month  past  strained 
every  nerve  to  secure  possession  of  the  fort,  which 
was  held  with  great  gallantry  by  Captain  Thomas 
Williams.  Every  approach  to  the  place  had  been 
entrenched  and  fortified  to  prevent  its  relief,  and 
the  Council  hesitated  long  before  they  would  allow 
it  to  be  attempted.  At  length  a  force  of  3500  foot 
and  300  horse,  under  Sir  Henry  Bagenal,  reached 
Armagh  (August  13,  1598),  and  marched  the  next 
morning  to  relieve  the  neighbouring  fort.  An  in- 
credible want  of  skill  in  the  disposition  of  the  force 
was  displayed.  The  ground  was  extremely  difficult ; 
Tyrone  had  an  army  almost  double  the  strength  of 
the  English,  and  had  posted  men  in  every  position 
whence  a  relieving  force  could  be  attacked.  Bage- 
nal divided  his  little  army  into  three  divisions 
following  each  other,  each  divison  composed  of  two 
regiments,  with  intervals  between  the  divisions  of 
140  paces  each.  This  was  the  first  and  most  fatal 
mistake,  as  the  path  taken  lay  through  a  country  of 
broken  hills  flanked  by  bogs  and  woods,  and  one 
division  was  too  far  distant  to  help  another  in  case 
of  sudden  attack.  The  three  divisions  had  thus 
successively  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  a  galling  flank 
fire  from  concealed  enemies  during  the  march  from 
Armagh  to  the  first  of  Tyrone's  trenches,  a  distance 
of  some  two  miles.  The  vanguard,  by  abandoning 
the  path  and  deploying  to  the  flank,  managed  to 
carry  the  long  trench  at  one  point,  but  only  after 
considerable  loss  and  confusion,  owing  to  the  boggy 
nature  of  the  ground  at  the  point  of  attack  and  the 
flank  fire  from  the  woods  on  each  side.  The  second 
division,  encumbered  with  a  field-piece,  stuck  in  the 


BATTLE    OF   ARMAGH  307 

bog  before  reaching  the  trench,  and  Bagenal  sent 
orders  to  the  leading  division  to  retreat.  The  retreat 
turned  into  a  rout,  and  many  of  the  men  of  this 
division  were  put  to  the  sword  by  the  pursuing 
rebels.  Bagenal,  endeavouring  to  stiffen  the  flying 
vanguard  with  his  central  division,  waved  his  helmet, 
but  at  once  received  a  bullet  through  the  forehead 
which  laid  him  low,  and  almost  immediately  after- 
wards two  barrels  of  powder  exploded  in  the  second 
division  and  completed  the  demoralisation  of  the 
men. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  new  English  levies,  galled 
with  the  flank  fire  and  dispirited  by  the  confusion, 
threw  away  their  arms  and  fled  helter-skelter,  whilst 
several  hundreds  of  the  "  mere  Irish  "  deserted  to 
the  enemy.  It  was  then  decided  to  withdraw  the 
survivors  of  the  three  divisions  to  Armagh,  and, 
leaving  some  of  their  cannon  hopelessly  bogged,  the 
rear  division  led  the  retreat.  But  the  pursuit  be- 
came so  hot  and  deadly  upon  the  remnants  of  the 
former  vanguard  and  centre,  that  the  rear  and  now 
leading  division  turned  about  and  charged  the  enemy. 
A  second  powder  explosion  had  happened  in  their 
ranks  just  before,  and  the  men  were  unsteady,  so 
that  their  charge  upon  the  Irish  failed.  The  remains 
of  the  other  regiments  attempted  to  come  to  their 
assistance,  but  the  long  distance  between  the 
divisions  prevented  close  or  effective  co-operation ; 
the  Irish  were  numerous  enough  to  isolate  them, 
and  the  rearguard  was  practically  destroyed.  The 
rest  of  the  force  fought  their  way  back,  foot  by  foot, 
almost  to  the  walls  of  Armagh,  where,  before  they 
could    proceed   further,  they  found  themselves   sur- 


3o8  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

rounded.  A  body  of  English  horse  cut  their  way- 
through  to  the  Pale  to  carry  news  of  the  disaster. 
Between  1500  and  2000  men,  with  nearly  all  the 
officers  and  standards,  were  lost ;  and  to  the  panic- 
stricken  Council  in  Dublin,  to  dying  Philip  at  the 
Escorial,  and  to  all  Christendom  flew  the  pregnant 
news  that  the  English  rule  over  Ireland  was  totter- 
ing, for  the  only  considerable  body  of  English  armed 
men  in  the  kingdom  had  been  swept  clean  away. 

The  Irish  Council  lost  its  head  entirely  and  de- 
scended to  the  depth  of  sending  a  whining  prayer 
to  the  "arch-rebel"  to  be  merciful,  and  "let  them 
(the  English  survivors)  depart  without  doing  them 
any  further  hurt.  .  .  .  And  besides,  your  ancient 
adversary  the  Marshal  (Bagenal)  being  now  taken 
away,  we  hope  you  will  cease  all  further  revenge 
against  the  rest."  ^  To  this  Tyrone  agreed,  and 
all  the  Queen's  forces  marched  from  the  borders 
of  Ulster,  leaving  rebellion  triumphant  and  O'Neil 
a  sovereign  prince. 

Almost  the  last  letter  that  was  dictated  by  Philip 
in  his  dying  torments  was  one  to  Tyrone  and 
O'Donnell,  giving  thanks  to  Heaven  and  to  them 
for  the  steadfastness  and  valour  which  had  enabled 

^  The  Council,  when  they  grew  cooler,  appear  to  have  been  ashamed 
of  this  letter,  and  said  that  it  had  never  been  delivered.  This  is  still 
doubtful ;  but  the  Queen  was  in  a  towering  rage  when  she  learned 
of  its  being  written.  "  We  may  not  pass  over  this  foul  error  to  our 
dishonour,"  she  wrote  to  the  Council,  "  when  you  framed  such  a  letter 
to  the  traitor  after  the  defeat,  as  was  never  read  the  like  either  in  form 
or  substance  for  baseness.  ...  If  you  shall  peruse  it  again,  when  you 
are  yourselves,  you  will  be  ashamed  of  your  own  absurdities,  and 
grieved  that  any  fear  or  rashness  should  ever  make  you  authors  of  an 
action  so  much  to  your  sovereign's  dishonour  and  to  the  increase  of  the 
traitor's  insolence"  (Irish  State  Papers,  August  16  and  September  12^ 
1598). 


TRIUMPH    OF    TYRONE  309 

them  to  gain  this  signal  victory  for  the  Catholic 
cause. ^  Failure,  utter  and  complete,  had  for  forty 
years  attended  the  King's  struggle  to  make  England 
Catholic,  that  she  might  become  a  fit  instrument 
for  Spanish  aims.  He  alone  had  never  lost  faith 
in  ultimate  victory,  as  one  catastrophe  had  followed 
another  with  heartbreaking  iteration  of  disaster ; 
and  now,  in  the  awful  sufferings  of  his  last  hours, 
he  must  have  thought  that  Heaven  was  relenting 
towards  him,  for  the  Catholic  cause  in  the  domi- 
nions of  Elizabeth  for  once  was  triumphant. 

'  MS.  Simancas  (Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.). 


CHAPTER    X 

Letters  of  John  Colville — James  intrigues  with  the  Catholic  Powers — 
The  "  Wisbech  Stirs" — Kecriminations  against  the  Jesuit  faction — 
The  murder  plot  of  Squire  and  Rolls — Father  Walpole's  con- 
nection with  it — The  desire  of  the  Archduke  for  peace  with 
England — Successes  of  the  Irish  rebels — Discontent  of  Essex — 
His  government  in  Ireland — The  march  through  Munster — His 
parley  with  Tyrone — His  disobedience  and  return  to  England — 
His  arrest. 

The  jangling  policies  and  factions  in  Elizabeth's 
court,  and  the  threatening  state  of  affairs  in  Ireland 
in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1598,  brought  ad- 
ditional hopes  and  energy  to  the  two  schools  of 
Catholics,  who,  in  their  different  ways,  were  striving 
to  undo  the  work  of  the  Reformation  on  the  death 
of  the  Queen.  John  Colville^  was  writing  almost 
weekly  alarming  letters  from  his  retreat  in  France 
to  Essex,  telling  of  the  coming  and  going  of  Papist 
envoys  to  James.  Robert  Bruce,  the  ex-Spanish 
agent,  was  in  Scotland,  with  George  Ker,  Father 
Gordon  the  Jesuit,  and  a  number  of  French  Catho- 
lics of  the  Guise  faction,  who,  according  to  the 
reports  furnished  by  Colville,  were  arranging  for 
armed  aid  to  be  sent  to  James  to  establish  him  as 
Catholic  King  of  England,  There  is  no  doubt  that 
James  was  now,  as  ever,  quite  ready  to  coquet  with 

1  Letters  of  John  Colville  in  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii.  Colville,  a 
former  ambassador  of  James,  was  a  member  of  the  Puritan  party  who 
had  offended  the  King  and  had  taken  refuge  in  England,  whence  he 
had  been  forced  to  go  to  France  in  order  to  avoid  giving  offence  to 
James.     He  was  an  agent  of  the  English  Government. 


JAMES   STILL   INTRIGUING  311 

the  Catholic  party,  and  that  he  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  close  sympathetic  correspondence  with 
Tyrone ;  but  the  movements  of  the  Catholics  to- 
wards him  at  this  juncture — with  the  exception 
of  the  embassy  from  the  Archduke,  of  which  the 
real  object  is  revealed  in  the  consulta  quoted  in 
the  last  chapter — may  be  confidently  traced  to  the 
French  and  Italian,  or  anti-Spanish,  influence,  which 
saw  in  his  conversion  and  succession  the  only  safe- 
guard against  the  Spanish  domination  of  England 
or  the  perpetuation  there  of  the  Protestant  supre- 
macy.^ 

This  was,  of  course,  not  fully  understood  at  the 
time,  and  Colville,  like  all  the  members  of  the 
extreme  Puritan  party,  saw  the  evil  hand  of  Spain 
in  everything.  James  himself,  moreover,  undoubtedly 
preferred  to  look  with  most  amiability  to  the  ad- 
vances of  the  faction  from  which  alone  he  could 
hope  for  armed  support  to  his  claims.  He  was 
willing  enough  to  receive  doles  and  blessings  from 
the  Pope,  or  from  any  one  else  who  would  send 
them  to  him  ;  but,  after  all,  he  knew  that  armies 
and  fleets,  if  he  needed  them,  could  only  come 
from  Spain,  and  to  Spain  he  looked  with  a  yearning 
gaze  over  the  heads  of  Scottish  Italianate  priests 
and  Guisans.     Colville  himself  to  some  extent  saw 

^  Colville  wrote  to  Essex  on  the  31st  May  a  long  letter  relative  to 
the  intrigues  then  being  conducted  by  James's  ambassador  in  Paris, 
the  aged  Beaton,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow.  The  King  of  Trance,  he 
said,  was  sending  kind  letters  to  James,  with  others  from  the  Con- 
stable, the  Duke  of  Mayenne,  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  many  other  high 
personages.  '•  The  chief  practices  for  the  King  of  Scots  will  come  from 
hence  {i.e.  France)  by  means  of  the  Bishop  of  Glasgow  and  the  House 
of  Guise,  the  French  King  being  disposed  to  do  no  more  for  England 
than  shall  be  for  his  own  weal"  (Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii.). 


312  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

the  difficulty  of  reconciling  the  interests  of  James 
and  Philip  in  England,  and  wrote  to  Essex  in 
April  1598  (tiatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii.) :  "For  the 
opinion  holden  that  friendship  is  incompatible  be- 
twixt him  and  Spain,  shooting  both  at  one  mark, 
there  be  three  arguments  which  shall — if  they  have 
not  done  so  already — blind  him  in  that  point. 
First,  the  revenge  of  his  mother's  death.  Second, 
the  assurance  that  they  whom  he  most  trusts,  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  shall  give  him,  that  Spain 
means  not  to  punish  him.  And  last,  how  you  (i.e. 
England)  shall  be  invaded,  which  is  intended  to 
be  by  the  King  of  Spain's  money,  but  with  few  of 
his  men,  the  body  of  the  army  to  be  Scotsmen  and 
other  nations  lifted  ...  by  the  House  of  Guise, 
unto  whom  he  sends  a  man  called  Ker  every  half 
year.  And  so  the  army  being  at  his  command- 
ment, he  need  not  fear  that  Spain  can  punish  him. 
To  prove  that  he  wishes  you  to  be  invaded  in  this 
sort  only,  peruse  the  latter  end  of  the  project, 
written  in  his  own  hand,  which  Mr.  Geddie  did 
present."  ^ 

There  is  no  doubt  that  James  would  dearly  have 
loved  to  obtain  Spanish  aid  on  such  easy  terms,  and 
on  every  opportunity  he  endeavoured  to  do  so.  But 
we  see  now  that  there  never  was  the  remotest  possi- 
bility of  Philip  finding  either  money  or  men  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  James  on  the  throne  of 
England.  The  policy  of  Spain  was  fully  as  selfish 
as  that  of  James,  and  was  conducted  by  diplomatists 

*  It  was  also  laid  down  in  the  instructions  of  Pury  Ogilvie  which  I 
have  quoted.  The  stipulations  with  regard  to  the  composition  of  the 
army  of  invasion  were  always  treated  by  Philip  and  his  Ministers  with 
ridicule  and  scorn. 


JAMES   STILL   INTRIGUING  313 

for  whom  the  King  of  Scots,  with  all  his  cunning, 
was  no  match.  Though  intense  indignation  ^  and 
some  alarm  were  caused  in  England,  therefore,  by 
this  active  trafficking  between  James  and  the  Catho- 
lic parties,  the  matter  was  in  truth  not  nearly  so 
dangerous  as  it  looked. 

As  a  counterbalance  to  it,  the  Protestant  party  in 
Scotland,  who  were  deeply  concerned  at  this  back- 
sliding on  the  part  of  their  King,  made  a  curious 
proposal  to  Elizabeth.  Early  in  the  spring  (1598) 
two  Scottish  gentlemen  on  the  Border  (Carlton  and 
Graeme)  suggested  to  an  English  official  named 
John  Udall,  that  a  great  Scottish  personage  (who 
appears  to  have  been  the  Earl  of  Argyll)  was  willing 
and  able  to  "do  a  great  service"  in  Ireland.  This 
"service"  was  nothing  less  than  the  capture  and 
delivery  to  Elizabeth  of  Tyrone  :  the  person  who  was 
to  undertake  the  task  at  Argyll's  bidding  being  Sir 
John  MacLean.^    For  some  weeks  active  negotiations 

^  Essex  and  his  party  were  naturally  the  most  disturbed  at  James's 
dallying  with  the  Catholics,  especially  with  the  Spanish  faction,  as  he, 
James,  was  the  principal  instrument  upon  which  they  (the  English  Puri- 
tans or  Liberals)  counted  to  defeat  the  Moderates  and  Catholics,  who 
were  intriguing  for  a  Spanish  alliance  with  Arabella  Stuart  as  Queen. 
Essex's  secretary,  Cuffe,  in  his  declaration  on  his  master's  impeach- 
ment, declared  that  the  main  object  of  the  Earl's  correspondence  with 
James,  was  to  "  staye  him  from  irreligious  courses,  in  declining  from 
his  religion,  which  of  late  hath  been  somewhat  feared  ;  and  next,  that 
he  might  hinder  the  designs  oi  the  Infanta,  whose  pretensions  to  the 
succession  hee  did  utterly  mislike"  (Cuft'e's  answers  to  the  Council, 
Hatfield  MSS.  uncalendared,  vol.  Ixxxiii.). 

2  Early  in  August  Sir  John  MacLean  and  all  his  kin  were  surprised 
in  the  island  of  Islay,  where  he  was  conferring  with  the  son  of  Angus, 
and  murdered.  "James  MacSorley  (James  Oge  M'Sorley-boy  M'Don- 
nell)  had  directet  out  of  Ireland  privelie  the  nowmljer  of  foure  hun- 
dredcht  Ireland  men,  wha  wer  principall  executeris  of  this  con- 
spiracie "  (The  Laird  of  Glenorchy  to  Colville,  Bannatyne  Club, 
Colville  Letters). 


314  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

to  this  end  proceeded  in  Scotland ;  but  as  Argyll, 
when  he  came  to  the  English  court  in  May,  avoided 
the  subject,  the  Queen  and  Essex  distrusted  the  good 
faith  of  the  proposers,  and  the  negotiation  came  to 
nothing. 

Whilst  the  Catholics  of  the  Scottish  faction  were 
endeavouring  to  bring  their  King  to  an  open  accept- 
ance of  their  faith,  and  James,  though  smiling  upon 
them,  was  looking  rather  towards  Spain  and  Tyrone 
for  effective  help,  the  uncompromising  Jesuit-Span- 
ish party  were  still  ceaseless  in  their  efforts  to  for- 
ward their  own  objects.  The  appointment  of  the 
Jesuit  nominee,  Father  Blackwell,  as  Archpriest 
of  England,'^  and  the  high-handed  action  of  Father 
Persons  in  Rome  with  regard  to  the  wishes  and 
demands  of  the  English  Catholic  clergy,  had  finally 
driven  the  great  majority  of  the  secular  priests  and 
Catholic  laymen  into  open  denunciation  of  the 
Jesuits  and  all  their  works.  In  Wisbech  the  two 
sections  of  prisoners  kept  apart,  reviling  each  other 
heartily.  The  scandal  was  so  great  that  the  Puri- 
tan party  naturally  turned  it  to  their  own  advantage, 
and  demanded  the  closer  imprisonment  of  the 
Jesuit  sympathisers,  whom  their  very  co-religionists 
and  fellow-prisoners  denounced  as  accomplices  in 
treason.  Father  Weston  and  several  others  of  the 
Jesuit  party  were  consequently  moved  from  the 
loose  restraints  of  Wisbech  to  the  strict  seclusion  of 

^  One  of  the  secular  priests  thus  wrote  of  the  appointment:  "All 
Catholics  must  hereafter  depend  upon  Blackwell,  and  he  upon  Garnet 
(the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits),  and  (Jarnet  upon  Parsons,  and  Parsons 
upon  the  Devil,  who  is  the  author  of  all  rebellions,  treasons,  murders, 
disobedience,  and  all  such  designments  as  this  wicked  Jesuit  hath 
hitherto  designed  against  her  Majesty,  her  safety,  crown,  and  life." 


CATHOLIC   RECRIMINATIONS         315 

the  Tower,  whilst  the  leading  priests  of  the  loyal 
faction,  especially  Dr.  Bagshaw,  opened  np  friendly 
communications  with  the  Queen's  Council,  with  the 
ohject  of  defeating  the  machinations  of  their  enemies.^ 
The  natural  result  of  this  was  a  recrudescence  of 
the  religious  agitation  and  of  the  accusations  and 
counter-accusations  against  Catholics  of  complicity 
in  real  or  supposed  plots  for  the  murder  of  the 
Queen,  and  for  other  treasonable  ends. 

As  was  the  case  in  1593,  most  of  these  accusations 
were  the  exaggerations  of  over-eager  spies,  or  the 
deliberate  inventions  of  scoundrels  who  sought  gain 
or  consideration  for  themselves  by  the  denunciation 
of  others ;  this  latter  motive  being  much  stronger 
now  than  before,  owing  to  the  increasing  hatred 
between  the  two  sections  of  Catholics.  A  large 
number  of  English  prisoners  and  others  were  re- 
leased or  allowed  to  escape  from  Spain  on  the 
accession  of  the  new  King  (September  1598),  and 
they  were  mostly  eager  to  gain  solid  reward  as  well 
as    pardon    for    themselves    by    telling    sensational 


^  Their  great  fear  apparently  was  that  the  letters  which  they 
expected  to  come  from  Rome,  as  a  result  of  their  appeal  against  the 
appointment  of  the  Archpriest,  would  command  them  to  obey  Weston, 
who  would  swear  them  all  to  be  true  to  the  Infanta  of  Spain,  as  Per- 
sons had  caused  the  priests  in  Spain  to  be  sworn;  which  rather  than  do, 
said  one  of  them  (Bluet),  he  would  starve  to  death  in  the  castle  of  Wis- 
bech (Manuscripts  in  Inner  Temple,  Hist.  MSS.  Com.,  Report  ii. 
part  7).  Father  Watson  some  months  afterwards  (early  in  1599) 
wrote  a  refutation  of  Persons'  book  on  the  succession,  which  was  read 
by  the  Queen,  Essex,  and  Cecil.  The  latter  (accordin.Lj  to  Watson) 
only  took  exception  to  the  word  "  toleration,"  wliich  was  expunged. 
He  (Cecil)  said  that  her  Majesty  would  not  grant  it.  Essex,  on  the 
other  hand,  apparently  anxious  to  conciliate  even  the  Catholics  who 
were  opposed  to  Spain,  said  "  that  he  could  wish  with  all  his  heart 
that  we  might  have  liberty  of  conscience  "  (Law's  "Jesuits  and  Seculars"). 


3i6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

stories  of  what  they  had  seen  and  heard  abroad.^ 
Plymouth  was  "sold"  by  Gorges,  they  said,  as  well 
as  Falmouth  by  Killigrew.  Pickford,  the  master- 
gunner  at  Lisbon,  had  undertaken  to  kidnap  "Sir 
William  Beville  out  of  his  house."  Lists  of  the 
Englishmen  in  receipt  of  pensions  in  Spain  were 
given  ad  nauseam,  with  embellishments  as  to  the 
character  and  designs  of  the  recipients.  Most  of 
this  was  the  loose  talk  of  uneducated  men "  desir- 
ing to  add  to  their  own  value,  but  it  was  given 
an  importance  out  of  due  proportion  in  order  to 
strengthen  the   Essex  party,  who  were   now  deter- 

^  Many  of  them  had  served  as  pilots,  gunners,  &c.,  on  the  Spanish 
ships,  and  had  with  apparent  eagerness  sought  the  favour  of  Spaniards. 
For  this  they  had  been  denounced  by  others  to  the  English  Govern- 
ment, and  now  sought  to  make  their  peace  by  extravagant  professions 
of  loyalty,  and  of  their  intention  from  the  first  to  betray  their  Spanish 
paymasters.  They  were  very  anxious  too  to  give  particulars  of  their 
countrymen  in  Spain,  and  the  names  and  descriptions  of  a  large 
number  of  them  are  given  in  the  Spanish  State  Papers  of  the  period, 
and  in  the  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii. 

2  Patrick  Strange  of  Waterford,  an  Irish  shipmaster,  who  was  in 
Spain,  reported  in  October  1598  that  the  new  King  Philip  III.  had 
acceded  to  the  request  of  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell  to  send  them  men, 
munitions,  and  money.  Six  thousand  men  were  to  land  in  Limerick 
and  6000  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  whilst  the  English  fleet  was  elsewhere. 
A  great  navy  was  to  be  raised  by  Spain  finally  to  conquer  England, 
and  the  King  had  sent  "wise  men"  to  the  courts  of  France,  Germany, 
Italy,  and  Rome  to  seek  aid  for  a  general  Catholic  crusade.  Great 
preparations,  he  said,  were  already  afoot  for  Ireland,  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Adelantado.  "  Eveiy  gentleman  expects  to  be  a  Don  and 
every  parson  a  bishop"  (State  Papers,  Domestic,  February  3,  1599). 
Most  of  this  was  merely  the  loose  talk  of  the  seaports,  and  the  ignorance 
of  the  informer  is  seen  by  his  reference  to  the  aid  to  be  demanded  by 
Spain  from  the  other  Powers.  He  also  makes  the  aged  Bishop  of 
Clonfert  Philip's  principal  adviser  in  Irish  affairs,  which  he  certainly 
was  not.  Hugh  Boy  O'Davit  first  carried  the  news  of  Tyrone's  victory 
to  Spain,  and  it  was  he  who,  during  the  winter  and  spring  of  1 598-99, 
was  urging  Philip  to  send  the  6000  men  to  Limerick  (Irish  State  Papers 
of  the  date). 


MORE   SPANISH    *' PLOTS"  317 

mined,  if  possible,  finally  to  defeat  Cecil.  The 
young  Earl  himself  was  alternately  flouting  at  Court 
and  sulking  at  Wanstead  House.  He  coveted  the 
late  Lord  Burghley's  offices,  he  wanted  to  ruin  Cecil, 
he  wanted  his  enormous  debts  paid,  he  wanted,  in 
fact,  to  have  his  own  vain,  wrong-headed  way  in 
all  things,  and  this  the  aged  Queen,  in  spite  of  her 
affection  for  him,  was  determined  he  should  not  have 
at  any  cost. 

At  a  time  when  Essex  was  in  deep  disgrace,  the 
circumstances  of  which  will  be  related  farther  on, 
an  Englishman,  named  John  Stanley,  arrived  in 
London  from  Spain  (September  1598).  Pie  at  first 
addressed  himself  to  Essex,  but  being  unable  to 
obtain  audience  of  the  Earl,  he  went  to  Kalegh,  and 
told  him  an  extraordinary  story,  to  the  effect  that 
when  he  was  in  prison  in  Seville  he  had  met  there 
one  Francis  Sparry,  a  sailor,  whom  Ralegh  had  left 
on  the  Orinoco,  when  he  had  gone  on  his  voyage 
of  discovery  thither.  This  Sparry,  he  said,  had  dis- 
covered some  valuable  gold  mines  unknown  to  the 
Spaniards,  and  had  given  Stanley  a  map,  which 
would  enable  Ralegh  to  find  them,  Stanley,  more- 
over, said  that  he  had  escaped  from  Spain,  and  bore 
two  letters  from  Fitzherbert,  the  King  of  Spain's 
English  secretary,  and  Father  Richard  Walpole,^  the 
Rector  of  the  English  College  at  Seville.  He  de- 
sired a  private  audience  of  the  Queen,  to  whom  he 
professed  to  have  some  important  secret  to  impart. 
Ralegh,  who,  no  doubt,  was  constantly  being  pes- 

^  He  was  a  brother  of  the  Jesuit  Father  Henry  Walpole,  whose 
execution  is  mentioned  in  a  former  chapter.  See  Dr.  Jessop's  "  One 
Generation  of  a  Norfolk  House." 


31 8  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

tered  by  such  approaches,  referred  the  man  to  Secretary 
Cecil,  to  whom  he  gave  two  letters  he  had  received 
from  Walpole  and  Fitzherbert,  and  he  made  a  long 
statement  about  his  communications  with  the  King 
of  Spain's  Ministers  and  Father  Walpole,  with  re- 
gard to  the  betrayal  of  Flushing  or  Ostend  to  the 
Spaniards. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  spies  and  some  of  the  Eng- 
lishmen from  Spain  had  some  curious  stories  to  tell 
about  Stanley.  He  had  come  out  of  Spain  with  a 
false  passport ;  there  were  many  circumstances  of 
suspicion  about  him,  and  he  and  a  companion  who 
had  come  from  Spain  with  him,  one  Munday,  were 
haled  to  the  Tower.  There  they  were  examined  by 
Sir  John  Peyton,  Sir  W.  Waad,  and  Francis  Bacon. 
They  had  agreed  together  in  the  Spanish  prison, 
they  said,  to  pretend  to  Father  Walpole  that  they 
would  turn  Catholics,  and  do  some  service  to  the 
King  of  Spain,  in  order  to  get  their  liberty.  When 
he  asked  them  what  service  they  could  do,  they 
suggested  the  betrayal  of  one  of  the  Flemish  for- 
tresses ;  and  were  carried  to  Madrid  to  see  Idiaquez, 
who  sent  them  on  their  mission,  and  gave  them 
money  for  their  journey.  Father  Creswell,  they 
said,  had  blessed  and  commended  them  ;  the  sacra- 
ment had  been  partaken  of  by  them  in  company  of 
Captain  Elliot  and  Fitzherbert  himself,  the  celebrant 
being  an  Irish  bishop.^ 

A  little  pressure,  however,  and  perhaps  a  taste  of 
the  rack,  brought  out   something  more   important. 

1  The  only  two  Irisli  bishops  in  Spain  at  the  time  were  Cornelius 
O'Neil,  Bishop  of  Killaloe,  and  the  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  who  lived  at 
Burgos. 


MORE   SPANISH    *' PLOTS"  319 

Stanley  told  an  utterly  ridiculous  story,  which  bears 
indications  of  its  falsity  on  every  line  of  it.  On 
the  5th  of  August  previously  he  had,  he  said,  been 
carried  before  the  King  of  Spain  himself,  and  after 
being  sworn  to  secrecy,  he  was  instructed  by  Philip 
to  go  to  one  Munday,  who  was  then  in  Spain,  and 
to  receive  from  him  a  certain  perfume,  which  he 
was  to  scatter  in  the  way  of  the  Queen  of  England, 
who  would  then  be  "  cut  off  from  life."  Stanley 
declared  the  King's  instructions  were  that  he  was 
to  approach  the  English  Government  with  some 
feigned  proposals  for  peace,  and  was  to  inform  the 
King  by  letter  of  the  reception  his  approaches  met 
with,  especially  from  the  Earl  of  Essex  ;  and  the 
King  also  enjoined  him  to  aid  his  colleague,  Mun- 
day, to  "burn  her  Majesty's  navy."  He  was,  more- 
over, to  go  to  Sir  Thomas  Arundell  and  other 
Catholic  gentlemen,  if  he  needed  aid.  "After  I  had 
been  sworn,  the  King  said  my  gain  would  not  only 
be  much  money,  but  that  he  and  his  son  would  be 
my  friends.  Creswell  said  to  the  King  that  they 
had  often  been  deceived  by  taking  the  bare  oath  on 
the  Sacraments,  and,  therefore,  they  had  sworn  me 
by  the  Lord,  and  as  I  hoped  to  be  saved."  There  was 
much  more  talk  of  the  same  sort  implicating  Philip 
11. ,  Walpole,  Eitzherbert,  and  Creswell ;  although 
Stanley,  of  course,  professed  that  he  had  undertaken 
the  murderous  task  only  for  the  purpose  of  betray- 
ing it.  What  was  more  important  than  all  else  was 
that  both  the  prisoners  declared  that  Walpole  and 
Creswell  had  at  different  times  angrily  denounced 
two  men  then  in  England,  named  Squire  and  Rolls, 
who  they  said  had  received  a  large  sum  of  money  in 


320  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Spain  to  kill  the  Queen  and  Essex,  but  had  betrayed 
their  trust  and  had  done  nothing. 

Apart  from  the  gross  improbability  of  Philip  at 
any  time  receiving  such  men  for  such  a  purpose  as 
Stanley  professed,  the  King  on  the  day  mentioned 
(5/1 5th  August  1598)  was  lying  at  the  Escorial  hope- 
lessly ill  and  quite  unable  to  see  any  one  on  business. 
When  on  the  following  day  the  Nuncio  came  to  give 
him  the  Pope's  last  blessing,  he  found  that  Philip 
had  practically  finished  with  the  world.  Thence- 
forward, until  he  died  (13th  September),  prayers, 
masses,  and  an  agony  of  devotion  occupied  his 
every  thought  ;  and  it  is  quite  incredible  that  he 
would  have  sent  a  man  on  a  journey  of  murder  from 
his  death-bed  at  such  a  time.^  The  two  letters  from 
Fitzherbert  and  Walpole,  Stanley  subsequently  con- 
fessed were  forgeries ;  ^  and  the  whole  story,  when 
looked  at  in  the  light  of  our  present  knowledge, 
will  not  stand  a  moment's  investigation. 

But  loose  as  the  denunciations  were,  they  came 
in  the  nick  of  time  for  the  party  of  Essex,  to  which 
Bacon  and  Waad  belonged ;  for  Squire  and  Rolls 
were  at  once  laid  by  the  heels  in  the  Tower,  and  by 

1  The  following  extract  is  from  the  present  writer's  "  Philip  II."  : 
"  On  the  1 6th  August  the  Nuncio  brought  him  the  Papal  blessing  and 
plenary  absolution.  Philip  by  this  time  was  incapable  of  moving,  a 
mere  mass  of  vermin  and  repulsive  wounds."  From  the  beginning  of 
July  until  his  death  he  was  quite  disabled.  "  The  pain  of  his  malady 
was  so  intense  that  he  could  not  even  endure  a  cloth  to  touch  the 
parts,  and  he  lay  slowly  rotting  to  death  for  fifty-three  dreadful  days 
without  a  change  of  garment  or  the  proper  cleansing  of  his  sores." 
This  is  the  textual  account  given  by  an  eye-witness  of  the  King's  last 
days,  and  of  itself  is  a  sufficient  refutation  of  Stanley's  absurd  story  of 
his  long  interview  with  Philip  on  the  5/1 5th  August  1598. 

2  State  Papers,  Domestic.  Examinations  of  John  Stanley,  October 
1598. 


ANOTHER    "MURDER    PLOT"        321 

means  of  the  rack,  upon  which  Squire  suffered  for 
five  hours  at  a  stretch/  a  story  was  torn  out,  which, 
if  true,  surpasses  all  the  rest  in  unavailing  villainy, 
and,  what  was  more  important  still,  coupled  the 
name  of  Essex  with  that  of  the  Queen  as  the 
intended  victims  of  a  Jesuit  plot.  Squire,  it  appears, 
had  been  captured  from  Drake's  fleet,  and  was  im- 
prisoned in  Seville.  On  the  rack  he  told  his  story 
thus:  "Walpole  persuaded  me  to  be  employed 
against  her  Majesty's  person.  He  asked  me  whether 
I  could  compound  poisons  ?  I  said  no,  but  that  I 
had  skill  in  perfumes,  and  had  read  of  a  ball  the 
smoke  whereof  would  make  a  man  in  a  trance,  and 
some  die."  Walpole  thought  this  a  difficult  way, 
and  told  Squire  that  he  would  give  him  better 
directions  later.  Squire  then  went  on  to  say  that 
Walpole  gave  him  written  instructions  to  buy  cer- 
tain poisons  in  England,  which  writings  he  pro- 
fessed to  have  destroyed.  Opium  and  other  drugs 
w^ere  to  be  macerated  and  steeped  in  white  mercury 
water,  put  into  an  earthen  pot  and  stood  in  the  sun 
for  a  month.  The  mass  had  then  to  be  put  into  a 
double  bladder,  one  side  of  which  was  to  be  pricked 
full  of  holes  in  the  upper  part  and  carried  in  the 
palm  of  the  hand  upon  a  thick  glove  for  the  safety 

^  Lingard  ("History  of  England").  Wlien  Squire  was  first  arrested, 
and  apparently  prior  to  the  racking,  he  wrote  down  at  Waad"s  instance 
a  long  statement,  "  very  well  set  down  for  so  bad  a  Tiiatter,"  says  Waad, 
of  the  methods  used  by  the  Jesuits  in  Spain  to  pervert  Englishmen 
who  fall  into  their  hands,  "and  to  induce  them  to  adventure  their 
lives  to  cut  short  tyrants."  Whilst  he  detailed  the  persuasions  of 
Walpole  for  him  to  commit  the  crime,  he  brought  forward  many 
assertions  to  prove  that  he  had  neither  sought  nor  obtained  any  oppor- 
tunity when  he  arrived  in  England  of  carrying  out  the  plot.  (See 
Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii.,  iiud  State  Papers,  Domestic,  October  1598.) 

X 


322  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

of  the  user's  hand.  "  And  then  I  was  to  turn  the 
holes  downward,  and  to  press  it  hard  on  the 
pommel  of  her  Highness's  saddle."  Squire  pro- 
fessed that  Walpole  had  directed  him  to  cause  the 
five  ingredients  to  be  bought  by  different  persons 
and  at  different  places,  for  fear  of  suspicion ;  and, 
according  to  his  own  account,  he  procured  two 
drachms  of  opium  and  five  of  mercury  water  at  an 
apothecary's  shop  in  Paternoster  Eow,  towards  the 
farther  end,  an  ingredient  at  the  Plough  in  Buck- 
lersbury,  and  the  other  two  in  Newgate  Market.  **  I 
carried  them  about  with  me  six  or  seven  days,  and 
then  compounded  them  in  an  earthen  pot,  which  I 
set  it  in  a  window  of  my  house  at  Greenwich.  I 
applied  a  part  of  it  to  a  whelp  .  .  .  and  never  saw 
it  afterwards ;  and  therefore  I  think  it  died  thereof." 
This  was  in  July  1597,  and  Squire  had  then  en- 
listed in  Essex's  fleet,  bound  for  the  Azores,  giving 
to  the  Earl,  as  he  says,  much  information  with 
regard  to  Spanish  preparations  and  plans.  On  the 
rack  he  confessed  that  during  the  voyage  he  had 
anointed  the  arms  of  Essex's  chair  with  the  poison  ; 
but,  as  may  be  supposed,  without  the  least  evil 
effect.  On  his  return  he  obtained  some  under-post 
in  the  Queen's  stables,  where  he  managed  to  smear 
his  composition  on  the  pommel  of  her  Majesty's 
saddle  ;  but  again  ineffectually.  Urged  by  the 
great  persuader,  the  poor  wretch  became  quite  com- 
municative about  the  share  of  Walpole  and  others 
in  the  proposed  crime.  The  Jesuit,  he  said,  had 
urged  upon  him  how  easy  and  safe  the  plan  was 
of  execution,  "  It  was  a  meritorious  act,  he  said, 
to  stab  the  Earl  of  Essex;    but   this   against   the 


SQUIRE'S   CONFESSIONS  323 

Queen  is  all  in  all,  for  there  shall  need  but  little 
else  than  to  do  that  well,  which  I  charge  you  to  per- 
form above  all  other  things."  ^ 

At  a  somewhat  later  period,  when  Squire  was  in 
the  confessional,  Walpole  had  taxed  him  with  an 
intention  not  to  commit  the  crime.  "I  protested  to 
him  that  I  verily  meant  to  do  it.  Then  he  laid 
before  me  the  danger  that  I  was  in  if  I  did  not 
endeavour  to  the  utmost  to  perform  it,  and  that  I 
must  not  now  fear  death.  .  .  .  If  I  did  but  once 
doubt  of  the  lawfulness  or  the  merit,  it  was  suffi- 
cient to  cast  me  down  headlong  to  hell ;  and  then, 
taking  me  by  the  arm,  he  lifted  me  up,  and  took 
me  about  the  neck  with  his  left  arm,  and  made  a 
cross  upon  my  head,  saying,  *  God  bless  thee,  and 
give  thee  strength,  my  son ;  and  be  of  good  courage. 
I  will  pawn  my  soul  for  thine,  and  thou  shalt  ever 
have  my  prayers,  both  dead  and  alive,  and  full 
pardon  for  all  thy  sins.'  He  also  used  a  speech 
over  my  head,  which  I  could  not  understand,  save 
the  first  word,  Dominus."  But  the  most  astounding, 
and,  it  must  be  admitted,  the  most  suggestive  part 
of  the  whole  confession,  was  that  Squire  declared 
that  Walpole  handed  him  a  letter  addressed  to  Dr. 
Bagshaw   at  Wisbech    Castle — which  letter  Squire 

'  Dr.  Lingard  greatly  ridicules  the  conduct  of  the  Crown  counsel  at 
the  trial.  It  was,  however,  no  worse  than  usual  in  such  cases,  which 
were  nearly  always  prejudiced,  and  were  marked  by  the  grossest  brow- 
beating and  injustice  towards  the  accused.  Coke,  on  this  occasion, 
made  a  theatrical  display  of  being  overcome  by  his  feelings  of  horror, 
and  closed  his  speech  abruptly,  as  if  unable  to  proceed.  His  junior 
then  dwelt  upon  the  extra  danger  to  which  the  Queen  had  been 
exposed  by  reason  of  the  attempt  having  been  made  iu  hot  weather, 
"the  veins  being  then  open  to  receive  any  malign  tainture."  Although 
it  must  have  been  patent  to  many,  no  word  was  said  of  the  absurdly 
inept  and  inadequate  nature  of  the  attempt  itself. 


324  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

said  that  he  had  destroyed  with  the  poison  formula ; 
and,  in  answer  to  some  doubt  expressed  by  Squire 
as  to  his  ability  to  carry  through  such  a  mission, 
Walpole  is  represented  to  have  said  :  "  Tush  !  let  Dr. 
Bagshaw  but  see  your  intent  and  be  assured  of  your 
resolution,  and  all  your  wants  will  be  supplied."  ^ 

When  Squire  was  placed  on  his  trial  (November 
9,  1598)  public  feeling  was  at  fever  heat,  and  the 
Attorney-General  Coke  and  his  colleagues  made 
the  most  of  the  opportunity.  Squire  passionately 
protested  that  the  untrue  avowal  of  his  guilt  had 
been  torn  from  him  by  the  torture ;  and  that,  whilst 
he  admitted  having  promised  Walpole  to  attempt 
the  crime,  he  had  never  intended  to  effect  it,  nor 
had  he  done  so.  Cecil  told  him  that  his  confession 
was  enough  to  hang  him,  and  in  due  course  he 
suffered  at  Tyburn  (November  13),  protesting  with 
his  last  breath  that  what  he  had  confessed  under 
torture  was  untrue. 

The  consideration  that  arises  in  the  case,  apart 
from  the  complete  absurdity  of  Stanley's  second 
confession  about  Philip's  personal  directions  to  him 
with  regard  to  the  poisoned  perfume,  &c.,  which  may 
be  dismissed  as  untrue,  is,  that  while  Squire  appears 
to  have  been  sent  on  a  fool's  errand  by  Walpole  so 
far  as  the  actual  commission  of  the  crime  was  con- 
cerned, the  reference  and  letter  to  Dr.  Bagshaw, 
which  would  hardly  have  been  invented  by  Squire 
on  the  rack,  point  to  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the 

'  The  declarations  of  Stanley,  Munday,  Squire,  and  Rolls  will  be 
found  in  the  State  Papers,  Domestic,  for  September,  October,  and 
November  1598,  and  abstracted  in  the  Calendar  for  that  period. 
Several  other  papers  connected  with  the  case  are  calendared  in  the 
Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii. 


SUGGESTED   EXPLANATION  325 

Jesuits  to  strike  a  fatal  blow  at  the  leader  of  their 
opponents.  Dr.  ]5agshaw,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
then,  and  for  years  afterwards,  the  champion  of  the 
"  loyal "  clergy,  and  was  precisely  the  least  likely 
man  to  connive  at  the  murder  of  the  Queen  by  a 
Spanish  agent.  On  the  face  of  it,  therefore,  it 
certainly  looks  probable  that  Walpole  did  prompt 
Squire  to  undertake  some  utterly  impossible  and 
harmless  attempt  at  murder,  simply  that  he  might 
on  discovery  or  confession  discredit  and  ruin  Bag- 
shaw.^  When  it  was  found  by  Walpole  that  after 
Squire  had  been  in  England  for  a  year  and  a  half, 
Weston  and  the  other  Wisbech  Jesuits  were  incar- 
cerated in  the  Tower,  whilst  Bagshaw  and  his  friends 
were  more  leniently  treated  than  before,  Walpole 
probably  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Squire  had 
betrayed  him  whilst  saving  Bagshaw.  Hence  his 
bursts  of  indignation  to  Stanley  and  Munday  about 
the  falsity  of  Squire,  and  hence  also  Stanley's  voyage 
to  England  for  the  purpose  of  divulging  Squire's 
plot,  so  that  the  rack  might  drag  from  the  latter 
a  mention  of  Bagshaw's  name.  If  we  accept  this  as 
a  possible  explanation  of  an  extremely  obscure  affair, 
it  follows  that  the  real  object  of  the  Jesuits  on  this 
occasion  was  not  primarily  the  murder  of  the  Queen, 
for  it  must  have  been  obvious  to  a  man  of  learning 
and  culture  like  Walpole  that  such  a  means  as  that 

'  .John  Chamberlain,  in  his  gossiping  account  written  to  Carleton,  says 
Squire  died  very  penitent.  Chamberlain,  doubtless  voicing  the  _<,'eneral 
opinion  of  the  time,  attributes  the  coming  of  Stanley  and  Munday  to 
Walpole's  belief  that  Squire  had  betrayed  him,  and  to  the  desire  of  the 
Jesuit  to  be  revenged  upon  his  false  instrument.  It  will  be  seen  in 
the  text  that  I  suggest  what  seems  to  me  a  more  adequate  reason  for 
Walpole's  action. 


326  TREASON   AND    PLOl^ 

employed  by  Squire  was  not  likely  to  be  effectual, 
but  rather  the  connecting  of  the  "  loyal  priests  "  with 
an  attempt  at  assassination.  Stanley's  and  Mun- 
day's  voyage  was  probably  prompted  by  Walpole 
mainly  with  this  object,  as  the  denunciation  and 
arrest  of  Squire,  which  was  the  real  purpose,  would 
necessarily  force  from  him  some  declaration  con- 
cerning the  letter  and  message  from  Walpole  to 
Bagshaw.  That  all  the  accused  men  talked  wildly 
and  falsely  on  the  rack  is  almost  certain  and  natural, 
but  the  Bagshaw  incident  is  one  that  would  hardly 
have  been  invented  by  them,  and  he  was  certainly 
not  suspected  by  the  examiners ;  so  that  the  germ 
of  truth  in  all  the  confessions  seems  to  be  that  Wal- 
pole was  willing  to  blacken  himself  personally  with 
the  reproach  of  having  incited  men  to  regicide  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  the  infamy  of  the  "loyal" 
Catholics  opposed  to  the  Jesuits/ 

^  As  in  tlie  case  of  the  Lopez  plot,  the  Essex  influence  in  the  Govern- 
ment caused  an  account  of  Squire's  so-called  attempts  on  the  lives  of 
the  Queen  and  Essex  to  be  published  broadcast,  presenting  the  heinous- 
nes3  of  the  Jesuit  incitement  to  murder  in  the  blackest  possible  light. 
Father  Walpole  wrote  a  spirited  refutation  of  this  account,  in  which 
he  said  that  Squire  was  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  had  been  incarcerated 
in  a  Carmelite  convent  (probably  by  the  Inquisition  for  heresy),  and 
had  sent  to  Walpole  to  profess  a  desire  for  conversion.  Walpole  de- 
clares that  he  distrusted  him,  and  refused  to  ask  for  his  release.  He 
denies  strenuously  that  he  ever  had  any  conversation  with  him  about 
the  Queen's  assassination,  and  declined  to  give  him  a  letter  for  any 
Catholic  in  England.  Squire  had  then  escaped,  and  had  gone  to  Eng- 
land. The  confession  of  Squire,  before  torture  was  applied,  that 
Walpole  had  incited  him  to  commit  the  murder  and  had  provided  the 
means,  seems,  however,  damning  as  against  the  Jesuit.  Unlike  others 
in  similar  case,  he  had  not  come  with  sensational  " confessions"  for  the 
purpose  of  gaining  money  and  credit.  He  had  been  eighteen  months 
in  England,  and  had  not  said  a  word  until  Stanley's  and  Munday's  de- 
nunciation of  him  caused  his  arrest.  (See  Waad  to  Cecil  and  Essex, 
Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii.  p.  382.) 


DR.    BAGSHAW   AND   THE   JESUITS     327 

The  effect  of  Squire's  revelation,  that  Walpole  had 
given  him  a  recommendation  to  Bagshaw  to  aid  in 
the  plot,  caused  the  immediate  despatch  of  orders 
to  the  local  justices  to  send  Bagshaw  from  Wisbech 
to  London  for  examination.  How  bitter  the  feeling 
was  between  Jesuits  and  Seculars  was  seen  even  in 
this  hour  of  trial.  One  of  the  former  confined  in 
the  Tower,  named  Ralpli  Ithel  (or  Udal),  told 
Waad,  when  he  knew  of  the  suspicion  against 
Bagshaw,  that  in  his  room  at  Wisbech  there  was 
a  hiding-place  in  a  certain  part  of  the  wall  "  where 
he  bestows  his  letters  and  books  that  are  sedi- 
tious which  he  disperses  abroad.  He  further  tells 
me  (W^aad)  of  a  priest  there  called  Blewit,  wlio 
is  of  counsel  with  Bagshaw  in  all  his  doings,  in 
whose  chamber  are  like  private  conveyances."  ^  The 
Council,  however,  seem  to  have  been  persuaded  of 
the  innocence  of  Bagshaw,  although  he  remained 
in  the  Gatehouse  Prison,  Westminster,  until  Feb- 
ruary 1599.  There  is  ample  reason  to  believe  that 
during  the  period  he  was  there  he  gave  to  Cecil  the 
fullest  information  with  regard  to  the  case  of  the 
loyal  clergy  against  the  Jesuits,  and  doubtless  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  general  understanding  which 
was  afterwards  effected  between  the  Government  and 
the  appellants  against  the  Archpriest's  authority.^ 

1  Waad  to  Essex  and  Cecil,  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii.  Ithel  was  a 
persouiil  enemy  of  Bluet.  Persons  in  his  "  Apologic  "  says  that  Bluet 
in  his  conversation  at  this  time  with  the  keeper  of  Wisbech  Castle,  had 
asked  the  latter,  when  he  wrote  to  Waad,  to  warn  him  against  Ithel, 
who  he  said  was  still  in  correspondence  with  Gerard,  who  had  escaped 
from  the  Tower.  Persons,  who  blackens  Bluet's  character  as  a  drunkard 
and  a  brawler,  relates  that  he  came  to  fisticuirs  with  Ithel  and  another 
priest  at  Wisbech. 

2  An  interesting  letter  written  to  him  from  Yorkshire  by  his  friend 
Father  ]Mush  shortly  after  this  (May  1 599)  proves  the  fear  that  Bagshaw's 


32  8  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

This  persistent  talk  of  renewed  Jesuit  murder 
plots  in  the  autumn  of  1598  was  rendered  the  more 
alarming  by  the  reports  of  the  English  spies  already 
referred  to  with  regard  to  the  aggressive  intentions 
of  Spain.  The  Mayor  of  Boulogne  continued  to 
write  frequently  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  giving  him 
details  of  the  warlike  plans  of  the  Cardinal  Arch- 
duke Albert.^  John  Colville  was  still  equally  in- 
dustrious in  assuring  him  that  the  Bishop  of 
Glasgow  in  Paris  was  "  marvellously  busie  with 
the  Cardinal"  to  persuade  him  not  to  do  anything 
against  James's  claims  to  the  English  crown. 
Huntly  and  Lennox  were  now  in  high  favour  in 
Scotland,  and  Catholic  agents  were  speeding  back- 
wards and  forwards  daily  between  Scotland  and 
France.  "The  Cardinal"  (reported  Colville  on  the 
4th  September)  "doth  expect  some  more  forces  from 
Spain,  and  it  is  yet  unconcluded  whether  they 
invade  England  by  entering  in  Scotland  or  the  Low 

negotiations  with  the  Council  aroused.  "Jesu  !  what  vile  rumours  and 
slanders  are  cast  all  over  touching  you.  .  .  .  For  God's  sake  be  wary  of 
your  tongue,  that  no  advantages  be  taken  of  you  ;  and  be  sure  of  them 
you  impart  your  mind  unto.  It  is  said  you  are  notably  circumvented 
by  one  you  trust ;  one  of  our  own  cloth,  who  deals  very  cunningly  with 
you.  .  ,  .  Since  your  departure  Waad  hath  had  all  the  priests  in 
prisons  before  him,  his  chiefest  questions  and  threats  were  about  this 
Arch(priest)  and  accepting  of  him.  A  plot,  as  he  saieth  of  Fa. 
Parsons  to  make  all  priests  co-operate  for  brinL,'ing  in  the  Infanta  for 
to  be  our  Queue,  ,  .  .  Wonder  they  make  no  proclamation  against  it ; 
but  I  muse  they  ar  so  senseless  as  not  to  thinke  upon  some  toUeration, 
with  conditions  w'^''  might  free  vs  from  this  jelosye  "  (Petyt  MSS, 
xlvii,,  printed  in  full  in  Law's  "Jesuits  and  Seculars"). 

1  See  these  letters  in  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii.  Even  Charles 
Paget,  in  a  letter  written  (November  30)  to  Cecil's  agent,  Barnes, 
about  the  secret  negotiations — probably  relating  to  Arabella  Stuart — 
then  afoot,  said  that  the  King  of  Spain  had  prepared  a  force  of  8000 
men  to  send  to  Ireland,  and  had  seized  all  Hollander  ships  in  Spanish 
ports  for  a  similar  purpose  (State  Papers,  Domestic). 


A    KRESH    INVASION   SCARE  329 

Countries."  An  English  pilot  captured  in  a  Spanish 
ship  confessed  that  "  a  kinsman  of  the  Earl  of 
Tyrone  had  been  with  the  King  of  Spain,  from 
whom  he  had  obtained  six  galleons,  certain  Flemish 
ships,  and  pataches,  wherein  shall  be  transported 
3000  old  soldiers  from  the  garrisons  of  Calais, 
Blavet,  and  others,  whereof  was  gathered  at  the 
Groyne  (Corunna)  before  this  examinant's  coming 
from  thence  eight  companies,  and  the  ships  were 
graven  and  rigged."  ^  A  French  agent  of  the  Earl 
of  Essex  assured  him  that  the  Archbishop  of  Glas- 
gow was  his  enemy,  and  was  in  daily  confabulation 
with  Cardinal  Lorraine  and  other  princes  of  the 
House  of  Guise.  France  and  Spain,  he  said,  were 
endeavouring  to  form  a  league  against  England ; 
and  John  Colville  capped  this  intelligence  with  the 
news  that  James  had  sent  the  Laird  of  Spynnie  and 
other  Catholic  agents  to  Paris  and  Brussels  in  order 
to  associate  Scotland  with  the  Catholic  Powers,  and 
facilitate  an  invasion  of  England.' 

'  Deposition  of  W.  Wylles  (Ilattield  Papers,  vol.  viii.,  September  lo, 
1598). 

-  No  one  in  England  seems  to  have  understood  that  these  influences 
were  mutually  destructive,  and  that  all  approaches  of  .James  to  Spain 
stultified  his  own  objects  by  alienating  his  French,  Italian,  and  Papal 
friends,  whilst  Spain  was  bound  to  oppose  to  the  utmost  all  attempts 
to  raise  him  to  the  English  throne  under  French  auspices,  or  as  the 
result  of  a  coni])romise  which  gave  to  England  and  Scotland  religious 
toleration  like  that  already  granted  in  (iermany  and  France,  and  thus 
leave  Spain  entirely  isolated  in  her  unbending  bigotry.  It  was  here 
that  the  interests  of  Flanders  under  the  Archduke  separated  from  those 
of  Spain  ;  and  the  best  hi'pe  of  reconciliation,  as  the  Cecils  saw,  was  to 
induce  the  Archuuke  to  revert  to  the  ancient  policy  of  the  Burgundians, 
by  throwing  over  Spain  altogether,  and  depending  upon  England  and 
Germany.  The  difficulty  which  prevented  this  was  the  uliramontism 
of  the  Infanta,  and  the  uncompromising  attitude  of  Essex  and  the 
Puritan  party  in  England. 


330  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

How  small  a  modicum  of  truth  there  was  in  all 
these,  and  scores  of  similar  advices,  we  shall  see 
presently ;  but,  true  or  false,  they  gave  new  strength 
to  the  war  party  and  to  Essex,  and  rendered  it  in- 
creasingly difficult  for  Cecil  and  the  moderates  to 
bring  about  a  peaceful  arrangement  with  Spain 
which  might  enable  the  whole  of  the  Queen's  re- 
sources to  be  cast  against  the  most  threatening 
danger  of  all,  namely,  that  of  Tyrone  in  Ireland. 
The  Archduke  himself  had  really  no  wish  to  burden 
his  and  the  Infanta's  new  sovereignty  with  his 
father-in-law's  old  quarrels.  Flanders,  separated  now 
from  the  Spanish  crown,  had  no  cause  of  quarrel 
against  England ;  and  it  was  distinctly  against  the 
interests  of  the  latter  to  avoid  driving  Flanders,  by 
persistent  enmity,  into  friendship  with  France.  We 
have  seen  that  already  the  Cecils  had  opened  com- 
munications with  the  Archduke  through  Charles 
Paget ;  but  the  agents  of  Essex  at  home  and  abroad 
threw  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  an  under- 
standing,^ and,  thanks  to  them  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  Jesuits  on  the  other,  the  efforts  at  recon- 
ciliation failed.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  however, 
that  this  arose  from  no  unwillingness  of  the  Car- 
dinal Archduke,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  letter  he 
wrote  to  Philip  whilst  the  latter  was  on  his  death- 
bed. "We  learn  from  England  that  the  Queen  is 
desirous  of  peace,  and  that  much  discussion  is  taking 
place  there  on  the  question  .  .  .  but  they  wish  the 
first  approaches  to  be  made  on  our  side,  in  which 
case  they  would  reciprocate.  .  .   .  As  I  am  naturally 

'  See  the  reference  to  this  point  in  the  "  Advices  "  of  Essex's  French 
agent  in  Paris  at  this  period,  in  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii. 


OBSTACLES   TO   PEACE  331 

desirous  of  the  general  peace  ...  I  have  considered 
whether  it  would  not  be  advisable,  after  I  have 
taken  possession  of  the  States  on  behalf  of  the 
Infanta,  to  send  an  envoy  to  the  Queen  of  England 
on  some  complimentary  mission,  in  the  names  of 
the  Infanta  and  myself."  He  then  suggests  that 
the  embassy  might  give  a  hint  that  the  transfer  of 
the  sovereignty  of  Flanders  had,  ipso  facto,  ended 
the  war  between  the  dominion  and  England,  and 
this  might  open  the  way  to  a  formal  peace.  "I 
think  that  this  could  hardly  fail  to  give  satisfaction 
to  your  Majesty,  as  it  is  evident  from  what  your 
Majesty  has  written  to  me  on  several  occasions, 
that  your  Majesty's  own  inclinations  are  in  favour 
of  some  peaceful  arrangements."  ^  This  is  highly 
significant,  because  it  not  only  shows  that  the  idea 
of  dominating  England  by  force  was  already  well 
nigh  abandoned  by  practical  men,  even  on  the 
Spanish  side,  but  also  that  the  Archduke,  at  all 
events,  had  no  desire  to  promote  the  claims  of  his 
bride,  the  Infanta,  to  the  English  throne.  These, 
it  is  true,  were  the  traditional  Spanish  aims  fos- 
tered by  Philip ;  but  Spain  herself  was,  for  all  her 
boasting,  as  prostrate  and  corrupt  now  as  was  the 
body  of  the  King  who  had  ruined  her.  The  Arch- 
duke was  an  Austro-Flemish  prince,  whose  only 
hope  of  a  peaceful  and  prosperous  sovereignty  was 
to  free  himself  from  the  strangling  toils  of  impossible 
Spanish  ambitions,  whilst  peace  with  Flanders  was 
of  vital  interest  to  English  trade.  But  the  tales  of 
spies  and  fugitives,  who  did  not  understand  the  real 

'  Archduke  Albeil  lo  the  King,  August   12,   1598,  MSS.  Simancas, 
Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


332  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

trend  of  affairs,  the  foolish  panic  about  widespread 
Catholic  murder  plots,  the  vapouring  of  bigots  and 
swashbucklers,  and,  above  all,  the  staggering  blow 
struck  at  English  power  in  Ireland  by  Tyrone's 
victory,  gave  to  Essex  and  his  friends  the  oppor- 
tunity they  sought  to  prevent  reconciliation  and 
compromise,  which  were  the  objects  of  more  mode- 
rate men. 

Events  proved  that  the  fears  of  the  Irish  Council 
had  not  exaggerated  the  danger  arising  out  of  the 
English  defeat  at  Armagh  ;  and  both  in  England 
and  in  Ireland  it  was  soon  understood  that  the 
island  would  have  to  be  reconquered  by  the  Queen's 
troops,  no  matter  at  what  cost.  "  We  cannot  but 
fear  far  more  dangerous  sequels,  even  to  the  utter 
hazard  of  the  kingdom,  and  that  out  of  hand,  if 
God  and  her  Majesty  prevent  them  not,"  wrote  the 
Irish  Council  immediately  after  the  disaster.  "  This," 
opined  John  Chamberlain,  "is  the  greatest  loss  and 
dishonour  the  Queen  hath  had  in  her  time.  .  .  . 
The  state  of  Ireland  grows  daily  di  77ial  in  peggio, 
for  they  begin  now  to  stir  in  Munster,  where  the 
White  Knight,  Sir  James  of  Desmond,  and  one 
Patrick  Condon,  a  shrewd  fellow,  are  out.  .  .  . 
Some  think  that  Lord  Mountjoy  shall  be  sent 
thither  as  deputie  ;  others  say  that  the  Earl  of  Essex 
means  to  take  it  upon  him,  and  hopes  by  his  coun- 
tenance to  quiet  that  country.  Marry !  he  wold 
have  it  under  the  brode  scale  of  England,  that  after 
a  year  he  might  return  at  his  will." 

In  any  case  it  was  evident  that  the  pettifogging 
churchmen  and  lawyers  who  composed  the  Council 
in  Dublin,  and  a  general  like  Ormonde,  mainly  in- 


THE   DANGER   IN    IRELAND  333 

terested  in  preserving  his  own  domains  from  damage, 
were  unequal  to  the  task  of  crushing  the  rapidly 
spreading  revolt.  Sir  Richard  Bingham,  who  in  his 
time  ruled  Connaught  with  a  rod  of  iron,  at  little  or 
no  cost  to  Elizabeth,  was  sent  back  to  Ireland  as 
Marshal :  the  English  troops  originally  destined  for 
Loch  Foyle  in  LTlster  were  diverted  to  Dublin  ;  for 
the  first  need  was  to  put  into  safety  from  capture  the 
seat  of  English  government.  If  Tyrone  had  been 
allowed  by  the  composition  and  resources  of  his 
army  to  follow  up  rapidly  his  victory  at  Armagh,  the 
capital  would  have  fallen  at  once,  and  he  would  have 
been  absolute  master  of  Ireland.  But  his  stores 
were  short,  O'Donnell's  men  wanted  to  go  home, 
and  Tyrone  was  anxious  about  Loch  Foyle. 

In  October  a  plan  was  discovered  in  the  nick  of 
time,  by  which  the  rebels  were  to  have  surprised  Dub- 
lin from  the  inside,  and  have  murdered  the  English 
in  the  city.  The  Irish  there  and  elsewhere,  in  the 
parts  hitherto  well  affected,  were  profoundly  moved 
by  the  success  of  their  countrymen  in  the  north ; 
and  within  two  miles  of  Dublin  the  rebels  reived 
unchecked.  Even  Kilkenny  and  Tipperary,  where 
Ormonde's  own  lands  lay,  were  spoiled  and  ravaged  ; 
the  wavering  Anglo-Irish  nobles  began  to  go  over 
to  the  winning  side  ;  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  was  with 
infinite  diplomacy  striving,  but  with  only  partial  suc- 
cess, to  keep  Connaught  from  open  revolt ;  ^  whilst 

1  O'Rourke,  who  with  his  sub-chiefs  subsequently  threw  in  his  lot 
again  with  O'Donnell,  told  Sir  Conyers  that  "if  all  the  magistrates 
of  Ireland  were  of  your  mind,  these  wars  of  Ireland  would  have  ended 
long  ago."  Men  like  Norreys,  Fenton,  and  Clifford,  wlio  were  desirous 
of  either  conciliating  the  Irish  or  else  of  crushing  them  absolutely, 
were  always  hampered  by  the  Council  and  the  English  Government, 


334  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Munster  blazed  out  irresistibly  under  James  Fitz- 
Thomas  Fitzgerald,  the  "Popish"  Earl  of  Desmond. 
It  was  especially  against  the  English  settlers  in  the 
wasted  Desmond  country  in  Munster  that  the  rebels 
directed  their  attacks,  and  most  of  these  promptly 
fled  from  their  holdings  to  the  comparative  safety  of 
Cork  and  Dublin,  leaving  the  revolution  triumphant 
in  the  province  outside  the  walled  cities. 

It  would,  however,  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
all  Ireland  rallied  spontaneously  to  the  Catholic 
rebelliou.  The  inhabitants  of  the  towns,  and  the 
trading  classes  generally,  understood  perfectly  well 
that  Tyrone  had  adopted  the  Catholic  cause  rather 
as  a  means  than  an  end.  The  laws  notwithstanding, 
there  was  but  little  interference  by  the  English  with 
the  practice  of  Catholic  worship  ;  and  it  was  felt 
that  trade  and  industry,  at  least,  would  be  likely  to 
prosper — as  they  had  done — much  more  under  the 
English  supremacy  than  under  the  sway  of  native 
territorial  princelings.  The  smaller  landowners  also, 
whom  the  English  had  freed  from  the  tyrannical 
extortions  of  the  great  Irish  overlords,  had  grown 
immensely  in  wealth  and  importance  in  consequence, 
and  were  not  at  all  enamoured  of  a  return  to  their 
former  position  of  vassal  chiefs.  Many  of  this  class 
were,  it  is  true,  driven,  sooner  or  later,  to  join  in  the 
rebellion,  by  threats  and  the  fear  of  finally  being 
caught  on  the  losing  and  unpatriotic  side,  or  else  by 
the  desire  of  establishing  their  claims  to  estates 
which  the  English  had  confirmed  to  others  of  their 
house  ;   but  in  most  cases  they  were  eager  to  make 

who  scorned  all  arrangements  whilst  refusing  to  furnish  the  resources 
for  coercion. 


DISCONTENT   OF   ESSKX  335 

friends  again  with   the   Queen's   government   when 
the  tide  began  to  turn/ 

All  this,  however,  w^as  but  imperfectly  understood 
at  the  time  by  the  English,  who  were  ready  to  lump 
together  all  Irishmen  as  barbarians  and  born  traitors, 
who  could  not  be  believed  on  their  oath  :   and  the 
problem,  as  it  was  presented  to  the  eyes  of  contem- 
porary English  statesmen,  was  to  reconquer  by  main 
force  the  island  from  the  Irish,  and  possibly  to  be 
brought  face  to  face  with  a  veteran  Spanish  army, 
now  liberated  from  France  by  the  peace   of  Vervins. 
In    these    circumstances    it   was   natural    that    the 
thoughts   of  Englishmen  should  turn  to  the   most 
noted  and  most  popular  of  military  leaders,  the  official 
head  of  the  Queen's  land  forces.      Essex  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  fractious   and  ill-tempered   at  the  time, 
"  chased,"   as  he  says,  "  into  exile  "  by  the  Queen, 
"  whose  indignation  did  take  hold  of  all  things  that 
might  feed   it,   and  that  you   did  willinglyest  hear 
those  that  did  kindle  it."  ..."  Yet  when  the  un- 
happy news   came    from  yonder  cursed   country   of 
Ireland,  and  I  apprehended  how  much  your  Majesty 
would  be  grieved   to   have  your  armies  beaten,  and 
your  kingdom  like  to  be  conquered  by  the  son  of  a 
smith,  duty  was  strong  enough  to  rouse  me  out   of 
my  deadliest   melancholy :    I    posted   up,   and    first 
offered  my  attendance,  and  afterwards   my  poor  ad- 
vice in  writing  to  your  Majesty ;  but  your  Majesty 
rejected  both  me  and  my  letter."  ~      The  reason  for 
the  Queen's  anger  was  that  Essex  refused  to  speak 

'  Even  immediately  after  the  victory  of  Armagh,  there  were  bitter 
complaints  from  Irishmen  of  the  tyranny  of  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell. 
2  Essex  to  the  Queen,  August  26,  1598  (Hatfield  Papers). 


336  TREASON    AND   PLOT 

in  the  Council,  or  to  give  any  opinion  except  to 
Elizabeth  herself,  and  this  was  a  pretext  for  a  fresh 
series  of  heady  complaints  on  the  one  side,  replied  to 
by  harsh  treatment  on  the  other. 

At  length,  at  the  beginning  of  October,  the  Queen, 
who  hated  to  lose  sight  of  him,  made  him  some 
amends,  and  the  Earl  returned  to  court,  "  in  as 
good  terms,  they  say,  as  ever  he  was."  But  still  he 
was  disappointed.  The  Mastership  of  the  Court  of 
Wards,  vacant  by  the  death  of  Burghley,  would  have 
produced  a  large  revenue  to  pay  his  vast  debts ;  but 
it  was  refused  to  him,  and  was  going  to  his  enemy, 
Cecil :  the  Lord  Treasurership  had  been  given  over 
his  head  to  Buckhurst :  the  Queen  was  still  tart 
with  him,  for  she  had  sworn  to  humble  him,  and 
had  not  forgotten,  nor  ever  would  forget,  the  per- 
sonal slight  he  had  put  upon  her,  like  a  spoiled 
child,  on  the  occasion  of  their  last  squabble.^  The 
wise  LordT^eeper  Egerton  had  written  to  him  on 
that  occasion,  gravely  warning  him  that  unless  he 

1  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  discussion  as  to  the  appointment  of  a 
new  Viceroy  of  Ireland.  The  Queen  and  Cecil  wished  to  send  Sir 
William  Knollys,  the  Queen's  second  cousin  and  Essex's  uncle.  The 
Earl,  however,  was  pleased  to  consider  that  this  was  a  trick  of  the 
Cecil  party  to  reduce  the  number  of  his  friends  at  Court,  and  tem- 
pestuously urged  the  appointment  of  Sir  George  Carew,  a  cousin  of 
Ralegh's  and  an  adherent  of  the  Cecil  parly.  When  the  Queen  re- 
butted his  opinion,  he  ostentatiously  turned  his  back  upon  her,  where- 
upon the  irate  sovereign  boxed  his  ears,  and  told  him  to  go  and  be 
hanged.  The  Earl  then  clapped  his  hand  to  his  sword,  and  swore  he 
would  take  such  an  indignity  from  no  one — not  even  Henry  VIII.  He 
was  restrained  by  the  Lord  Admiral,  and  forbidden  the  presence  for 
some  time  afterwards.  He  came  back,  as  we  have  related  in  the  text, 
as  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  his  friends  and  of  his  own  expressions  of 
lovelorn  desperation  to  the  Queen  ;  but  he  was  still  consumed  with  a 
hatred  worse  than  ever  for  Cecil,  Ralegh,  Cobham,  Howard,  and  every 
one  else  who  presumed  to  exist  hj  his  side  without  being  his  abject  slave. 


ESSEX   TO    COMMAND    IN    IRELAND     337 

obtained  a  victory  over  his  own  temper,  he  would  go 
downhill  to  certain  destruction;  his  mother, the  Coun- 
tess of  Leicester,  tearfully  prayed  her  "sweet  Robin  " 
to  humble  himself  before  his  sovereign — a  woman. 

But  though  the  Earl  had  been  wheedled  back  to 
court  by  his  friends,  he  was  still  unhumbled,  and 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Council  to  discuss  the  affairs 
of  Ireland  he  would  only  flout  and  sneer  at  what 
was  proposed  by  others.  Every  viceroy,  he  said, 
had  failed  because  he  had  not  struck  swiftly  and 
boldly  at  the  heart  of  the  trouble  ;  but  had  com- 
pounded and  paltered  with  traitors.  Nothing  and 
nobody  pleased  or  satisfied  him.  When  his  friend 
Lord  Montjoy  was  proposed  as  viceroy,  he  cavilled 
at  his  capability  and  scoffed  at  his  comparative 
poverty.  Finally,  at  a  suggestion  that  he  might 
undertake  the  task  himself,  Essex  was  almost 
forced,  by  his  attitude  towards  all  other  sugges- 
tions, to  acquiesce.  No  sooner  had  he  done  so  than 
he  began  to  make  demands  and  conditions.  He 
must  have  fuller  powers  than  ever  had  been  granted 
to  a  viceroy  before  ;  he  must  have  an  army  much 
larger  than  had  previously  been  authorised  ;  and, 
above  all,  he  must  have  warrant  under  the  great 
seal  to  return,  if  he  pleased,  in  a  year.  When 
Cecil  was  absent  in  France  in  the  summer  of  1598, 
Bacon  had  written  to  Essex  urging  the  latter  to  take 
charge  of  Irish  affairs  ;  but  now  that  the  Earl  had 
committed  himself  to  the  grave  responsibility,  his 
friends — and  amongst  them  Bacon,  by  his  own 
showing^ — saw  the  trap  into  which  his  fractiousness 

*  The  letter  from  Bacon,  urging  him  to  take  Irish  affairs  in  hand,  is 
printed  in  "  Cabala."    The  assertion  that  he  did  not  persuade  him  is 

Y 


338  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

had  led  him  and  begged  him  to  refuse  the  com- 
mand. Egerton  also  wrote  to  the  Earl  pointing  out 
the  risk  of  failure,  the  danger  of  his  absence  from 
court,  and  the  ungrateful  nature  of  the  service  he 
had  undertaken.  Essex  would  fain  have  withdrawn, 
but  now  he  dared  not ;  and  already  there  was  seeth- 
ing in  his  mind  that  plan  of  his,  by  which  he 
dreamed  of  imposing  his  authority  over  all  others 
by  means  of  the  forces  of  the  Queen  under  his 
command.^  The  project  was  a  mad  and  a  wicked 
one,  but  Essex  was  crazy  with  vanity  and  ambition. 

All  through  the  winter  the  fresh  demands  of 
Essex,  conditional  upon  his  acceptance  of  the  com- 
mand, caused  the  question  of  his  appointment  to 
waver.  He  was,  wrote  Chamberlain  (November  22), 
to  go  in  "  February  or  March  with  as  ample  a  com- 
mission as  ever  any  had  ;  the  conditions  whereof 
it  were  lost  labour  to  set  down,  because  they  vary 
and  alter  every  week  ;  and  withal,  his  going  is  not 
resolved  so  fully  but  that  once  in  ten  days  it  is 
in  question."  And  again,  on  the  8th  December 
the  same  letter- writer  says  :  "  The  rebels  grow  daily 
both  in  heart  and  strength ;  and  what  is  worse,  the 
great  ones  of  that  country,  and  those  that  have 
always   been  thought  soundest,   use   the  matter   so 

made  by  Bacon  in  his  disingenuous  attempt,  long  afterwards,  to  justify 
his  vile  treatment  of  his  patron  when  he  had  fallen  (Bacon  to  the 
Earl  of  Devonshire). 

1  Bacon  in  his  apology  for  his  conduct  to  Essex,  written  to  the  Earl 
of  Devonshire,  says  that  Essex  believed  that  the  Queen  could  only  be 
successfully  managed  by  compulsion  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  prin- 
cipal object  of  his  desire  to  go  to  Ireland  was  to  have  under  him  an 
army  large  enough  to  overcome  all  resistance  to  him.  We  shall  see 
later  how  he  proposed  to  employ  the  forces  entrusted  to  him  by  his 
sovereign. 


ESSEX   WAVERS  339 

that  they  be  not  out  of  suspicion  ;  for  neither  do 
they  any  service  themselves  nor  assist  those  who 
would  do  it.  .  .  .  The  Earl  of  Essex's  journey 
thither  is  neither  fast  nor  loose,  but  holds  still  in 
suspense,  by  reason  the  proportions  thought  fit  for 
such  an  enterprise  are  daily  dipt  and  diminished  ; 
for  it  was  first  set  down  that  his  number  (with  those 
already  there)  should  be  14,000,  with  full  allowance 
of  victual-money,  &c,  ;  but  whether  they  think  the 
matter  may  be  compassed  with  less  charge,  or  that 
we  be  not  able  to  beare  such  a  burthen,^  these  rates 
are  brought  lower  ;  wherewith  he  is  nothing  pleased  : 
and  on  these  terms  it  stands." 

During  all  this  bickering  and  uncertainty  Essex 
was  besieged  with  applications  for  commissions  and 
ofiers  of  service  in  his  ranks.  His  lavish  scattering 
of  knighthoods  and  loot  at  Cadiz,  and  his  personal 
splendour,  now  at  his  height,  had  made  him  the 
most  popular  man  in  England,  both  with  the 
younger  gentry,  who  swore  by  him  as  their  leader, 
and  amongst  the  London  crowd,  whose  heart  he  had 
gained  by  his  anti-Catholic  politics  and  his  solici- 
tude for  the  welfare  of  his  soldiers  in  war.  Shortly 
before  Christmas  the  idea  of  his  going  to  Ireland 
was  entirely  abandoned  for  a  time,  on  some  question 
of  the  Queen's  forgiving  a  great  debt  nominally 
owing  to  her  by  him.     "  But  whether  it  were  that 

1  The  Queen  was  extremely  short  of  money  at  the  time,  and  only  on 
very  onerous  terms  could  she  obtain  a  loan  of  _;^  150,000  from  the  Lon- 
don bankers.  So  hard  pressed  was  she  that  it  was  feared  she  would 
have  recourse  to  her  father's  bad  old  plan  of  a  benevolence,  and  she 
was  "  faine  to  descend  to  mean  men,  and  pick  up  here  and  there  as 
she  can  get  it.  You  must  think  they  were  neere  driven  when  they 
found  out  me  as  a  fit  man  to  lend  money "  (John  Chamberlain,  State 
Papers,  Domestic). 


340  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

matter  or  some  other,  all  is  turned  upside  down,  and 
he  (Essex)  and  Mr.  Secretary  (Cecil)  have  so  good 
a  leisure  that  they  ply  the  tables  hard  in  the 
presence  chamber,  and  play  so  round  a  game  as  if 
Ireland  were  to  be  recovered  at  Irish"  [i.e.  back- 
gammon). At  length  the  Queen  gave  way,  pardoned 
him  ^32,000  of  debt,  and  danced  a  gaillard  with 
him  on  Twelfth-day,  "  very  richly  and  freshly  at- 
tired," though  even  on  so  festive  an  occasion  as 
this,  the  Earl  must  needs  come  to  open  quarrel, 
and  almost  combat,  with  the  aged  Lord-Admiral 
Howard.^  All  the  young  nobles  flocked  round 
their  leader  again.  Derby,  Rutland,  Southampton, 
Windsor,  Grey,  Audley,  Cromwell,  and  knights  by 
the  score,  competed  for  his  smile ;  whereupon  the 
Queen  grew  jealous,  and  forbade  many  of  them  to 
accompany  him.  "  Some  suspect  it  is  his  owne 
doing,  because  he  is  not  able  to  give  them  all  satis- 
faction, but  I  am  not  of  that  opinion,"  says  John 
Chamberlain,  who  was  probably  right. 

At  length,  in  March,  the  matter  was  finally  settled, 
though  not  before  all  the  court  was  set  by  the  ears 

^  A  Spanish  spy  in  England  writes  thus  on  January  24,  1 599 : 
"  The  preparations  for  Ireland  are  being  pushed  forward,  but  the  Earl 
of  Essex  will  not  be  ready  to  sail  until  the  middle  of  March.  He  is 
meeting  with  many  impediments  .  .  .  and  his  rivals  particularly  wish 
him  to  sail  without  his  stores,  which  they  promise  to  send  after  him. 
But  he  insists  upon  taking  at  least  six  months'  provisions  with  him. 
He  asserts  that  he  learns  from  men  recently  in  Spain  that  the  King  is 
making  great  preparations  to  aid  the  Irish  rebels,  and  he  (Essex) 
demands  more  stores.  But  the  Lord-Admiral  greatly  opposes  this, 
saying  that  it  is  not  true,  and  this  year  the  King  of  Spain  is  not 
making,  and  cannot  make,  any  preparations  against  Ireland.  They 
are  much  at  issue  about  this,  and  had  even  arranged  to  fight  a  duel 
but  the  Queen  would  not  allow  it  (MSS.  Simancas,  Spanish  Calendar, 
vol.  iv.). 


ESSEX    LANDS   IN   IRELAND  341 

by  Essex's  fretful  humours  and  his  universal  jealousy. 
He  wished  to  go  and  he  wished  to  stay.  He  hated 
his  opponents  for  their  eagerness  to  aid  him  in  his 
journey  and  so  get  rid  of  him,  and  he  was  equally 
angry  with  those  who  sought  to  stay  him.  He 
wished  for  the  armed  power  to  coerce  the  Queen, 
and  yet  he  dreaded  to  leave  her  surrounded  by  those 
who  bore  him  no  love.  But  he  had  gone  too  far 
now  to  back  out,  and  on  the  13th  April  1599  he 
landed  in  Dublin,  the  most  splended  viceroy  that 
Ireland  had  ever  seen,  attended  by  the  flower  of  the 
English  nobility  and  an  army  of  20,000  foot  and 
over  1300  horse.^  The  powers  he  bore  were  those 
of  a  sovereign,  though  he  assumed  the  title  of  Lord- 
Lieutenant  only.  His  power  of  pardon  extended 
even  to  crimes  of  treason  against  the  person  of  the 
Queen,  and  the  highest  officers  in  Ireland  were  at 
his  mercy ;  even  the  sovereign's  letters-patent  might 
be  suspended  by  him.  He  had  the  disposal  of  the 
rebels'  lands  he  conquered,  subject  only  to  a  chief 
rent  to  the  crown.  He  might  create  barons  and 
issue  treasury  warrants  of  his  own  ;  his  writ  was 
made  to  supersede  in  Ireland  that  of  the  English 
Privy  Council,  and  the  command  of  the  fleet  in  the 
Irish  seas  passed  from  the  hands  of  the  Lord- 
Admiral  into  those  of  Essex. 

The  ill-balanced  young  man  who  wielded  these 
great  prerogatives,  backed  by  the  largest  armed  force 
that  England  could  muster,  was  in  a  dangerous 
frame  of  mind.     His  heart  was  raging  with  jealous 

^  Cliamberlain  wrote  :  "  They  talke  likewise  of  carrienge  over  two 
or  three  hundreil  niastives  to  werry  {i.e.  worry)  the  Irish,  or  rather  (as 
I  take  it)  their  cattell." 


342  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

pride,  and  the  knowledge  that  the  simpering  hunch- 
back he  hated  had  outwitted  him  at  every  point ; 
that  the  semi-Papist  Howards  were  at  court,  and 
that  the  clever  middle-aged  upstart  Kalegh  was 
posing  in  his  glittering  silver  cuirass  at  the  Queen's 
side,  whilst  he,  young,  high-born,  and  a  greater 
favourite  than  Ralegh  ever  had  been,  was  con- 
signed by  his  own  ill-temper  to  a  hard  inglorious 
struggle  against  half-savage  rebels,  in  a  hateful  land 
that  had  engulfed  his  father's  life  and  fortune/ 
Above  all,  in  his  absence  and  that  of  his  friends, 
the  ground  would  be  clear  for  Cecil  and  his  party 
to  complete  those  arrangements  which  he  knew  to 
be  in  progress  for  commencing  a  new  reign  when 
the  old  Queen  should  die,  under  auspices  which 
would  finally  consign  the  magnificent  Essex  to 
obscurity  or  worse. 

In  these  circumstances  it  was  inevitable  that  Essex 
should  think  more  of  his  own  future  than  of  the 
special  service  that  he  had  undertaken  ;  and  almost 

^  Instance  his  famous  and  oft-quoted  letter  to  the  Queen  at  this 
time,  beginning,  "  From  a  mind  delighting  in  sorrow,  from  spirits 
wasted  with  passion,  from  a  heart  torn  to  pieces  with  care,  grief,  and 
travail,  from  a  man  that  hateth  himself  and  all  things  else  that  keep 
him  alive,  what  service  can  your  Majesty  expect,  since  any  service 
past  deserves  no  more  than  banishment  and  proscription  to  the  cursed- 
est  of  all  islands?"  (Birch).  From  Markham's  letter  to  Hairington, 
printed  by  the  latter  in  his  Nugce  Antiquce,  it  is  evident  that  the  court 
was  fully  alive  to  the  danger  of  Essex's  position,  and  to  the  distrust 
the  Queen  still  felt  of  him.  "  Observe  the  man  who  commandeth  and 
yet  is  commanded  himself  ;  he  goeth  not  forth  to  serve  the  Queen's 
realm  but  to  humour  his  own  revenge.  ...  If  he  performs  in  the  field 
what  he  hath  promised  in  the  Council,  all  will  be  well  ;  but  though  the 
Queen  hath  granted  forgiveness  for  his  late  demeanour  in  her  presence, 
we  know  not  what  to  think.  ...  I  sore  fear  what  may  happen.  .  .  . 
You  have  difficult  matters  to  encounter  besides  Tyrone  and  the 
rebels." 


ESSEX'S   DISOBEDIENCE  343 

the  first  exercise  of  his  prerogative  on  Irish  soil  was 
to  violate  the  Queen's  express  command.  The  fool- 
ish, flighty  young  Earl  of  Southampton  had,  with 
Essex's  connivance,  contracted  a  secret  marriage  with 
Miss  Vernon,  the  cousin  of  the  latter.  Southampton 
had  retired  to  France  for  a  time,  in  order  to  escape 
the  anger  of  the  Queen  when  his  marriage  was  dis- 
covered. In  Paris  he  took  to  gambling  and  lost  the 
remains  of  his  fortune,  and  on  his  return  to  London 
was  sent  to  prison  for  marrying  without  the  Queen's 
permission.  He  was  released  at  the  continued  im- 
portunity of  Essex,  but  when  the  Earl  proposed 
before  his  departure  to  appoint  Southampton  com- 
mander of  the  cavalry  in  Ireland,  the  Queen  angrily 
forbade  such  an  appointment  in  favour  of  a  man  who 
had  offended  her.  Essex  broke  this  royal  behest, 
and  placed  Southampton  at  the  head  of  the  cavalry 
soon  after  he  arrived  in  Ireland.  It  was  probably 
meant  for  a  deliberate  trial  of  strength  between 
him  and  the  Queen,  and  if  so,  it  failed  miserably. 
He  had  begun  before  he  left  England  to  complain 
and  doubt  about  the  support  that  would  be  ac- 
corded to  him.  "If  I  have  not  inward  comfort 
and  outward  demonstration  of  her  Majesty's  favour 
I  am  defeated  in  England,"  he  wrote  on  April  5 
from  Cheshire.  He  sent  back  Sir  Christopher 
Blount,  his  father-in-law,  in  a  huff,  because  the 
Queen  would  not  allow  him  to  be  sworn  a  member 
of  the  Irish  Council.  "  If,"  he  wrote  complainingly, 
"I,  going  to  manage  a  difficult  war  and  to  govern  a 
dissolute  and  undisciplined  army,  have  to  consult 
with  a  council  to  whom  her  Majesty  imputeth  almost 
the  loss  of  a  kingdom,  without  one  able  assistant  to 


344  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

consult,  I  shall  find  a  lack."  ^  If  Blount  could  not 
be  a  councillor  he  should  not  come  at  all.  He  was 
"  being  maimed  beforehand,"  the  Earl  grumbled ; 
and  when  he  was  on  board  his  ship  ready  to  sail,  he 
protested  to  Cecil  "  that  it  is  not  Tyrone  and  the 
Irish  rebellion  that  amazeth  me,  but  to  see  myself 
sent  on  such  an  errand,  at  such  a  time,  with  so  little 
comfort  or  ability  from  the  court  of  England."  No- 
thing satisfied  him,  though  to  all  appearance  every 
effort  to  do  so  was  made  by  the  Council  in  England  ; 
and  the  Irish  Council  were  eflfusive  in  their  submis- 
sion and  flattery. 

When  he  took  command  in  Ireland,  he  found  the 
rebels  ranging  at  their  will  over  the  country.  Carrick- 
fergus,  Newry,  and  Carlingford  were  the  only  towns 
in  the  north  held  by  the  Queen  ;  a  good  portion  of 
Connaught  had  now  revolted  ;  there  were  3000  rebels 
in  Leinster,  and  Munster  was  practically  abandoned 
by  English  sympathisers,  except  the  walled  towns. 
Essex's  plan  had  always  been  to  strike  hard  at 
Tyrone  in  his  own  country,  but  there  were  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  which  he  had  known  nothing. 
There  was  no  forage  in  Ulster  so  early  in  the  year ; 
provisions  for  the  troops  must  be  all  led  or  carried, 
for  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  food 
was  still  very  scarce  all  over  Ireland,  and  the  roads 
were  impracticable  for  a  great  part  of  the  way.  So 
Essex  was  forced  to  throw  over  his  own  plans  and 
devote  himself  to  Leinster  and  Munster,  until  the 
advanced  summer  allowed  him  to  tackle  the  arch- 
rebel  in  his  own  fastnesses.  The  English  settle- 
ments in  Munster   had    been    a    doubtful    success ; 

1  Irish  State  Papers  of  the  date. 


ESSEX    IN   IRELAND  345 

there  was  bitter  hatred  between  the  English  and 
Irish,  and  even  between  the  English  themselves  : 
the  most  glaring  corruption  existed  amongst  Eng- 
lish officials,  and  the  native  Irish  could  get  neither 
justice  nor  protection  except  by  bribery.  Wherever 
the  English  came  into  contact  with  the  Irish,  the 
latter  were  robbed  and  maltreated  ;  and  the  country 
people,  oppressed  by  the  English  and  by  the  rebel 
bands  alike,  were  reduced  to  utter  famine,  "  with 
nothing  but  roots,  grass,  and  boiled  nettles  to  eat." 
The  people  of  Connaught  had  "  already  eaten  their 
garrans,  and  were  now  living  on  the  ground  and 
eating  dogs'  flesh."  ^ 

It  was  in  this  disastrous  state  of  affairs  that  Essex, 
still  bewailing  and  complaining,  started,  on  May  9, 
1599^  foi'  his  journey  through  Leinster  and  Munster. 
He  had,  in  the  period  since  his  arrival,  reduced  the 
chaos  in  Dublin  to  something  like  order,  but  he 
clamoured  in  vain  for  still  larger  reinforcements " 
and  increased  supplies  from  England.  To  his  in- 
dignation he  was  told  that  he  must  get  volunteers 
from  the  English  in  Ireland.  They  were  cowards, 
he  said,  and  would  not  fight ;  even  the  soldiers  he 
had  brought  from  England  with  him  were  a  poor 
lot,  and  much  inferior  in  "hardness"  to  the  rebels. 
The  latter  had  now  in  the  field  an  organised  army — 
7000  men  under  Tyrone  near  Armagh,  and  another 
body  of  4000  under  O'Donnell  in  Connaught,  besides 
smaller  bands  all  over  the  country.  There  was  still 
much  talk  of  a  Spanish  force  coming  to  their  aid,* 

1  Irish  State  Papers,  ]Mssim. 

2  The  reinforcement  of  2000  men  was  not  due  in  Ireland  till  June  r. 

3  When  Essex  was  on  his  march  throuLjh  Munstt-r,  he  learnt  (June 
1 5)  that  two  small  ships  of  munitions  and  treasure  had  arrived  from 


346  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

and  Essex  did  not  for  a  moment  beguile  himself  or 
the  Queen  with  hopes  of  an  easy  victory. 

But  he  found  the  guerilla  warfare  to  which  he  was 
committed  in  an  enemy's  country  even  harder  and 
more  distasteful  than  he  had  thought.  His  pas- 
sage through  Leinster  was  comparatively  unopposed. 
Rebel  castles  surrendered  to  him  with  but  little 
resistance,  and  the  bands  generally  scattered  as  he 
attacked  them ;  but  the  constant  harassing  of  his 
flanks  and  cutting-ofF  of  his  stragglers  gave  him  a 
foretaste  of  the  task  before  him.  "  This  war,"  he 
wrote,  "is  likely  to  exercise  both  our  faculties  that 
do  manage  it,  and  her  Majesty's  patience  that  must 
maintain  it."  His  men,  he  complained,  had  "neither 
bodies,  spirits,  nor  practice  of  arms."  The  enemy 
were  light  and  swift — "  rogues  and  naked  beggars," 
he  called  them — who  could  elude  the  English  in 
mountains  and  morasses  after  delivering  their  attack. 
At  Cahir  a  force  of  5000  rebels  were  encountered, 
and  the  castle  was  captured.^     Then,  after  passing 

Spain  in  Locli  Foyle,  but  no  men  ;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  tbe  reports  of 
the  preparations  in  Spain  to  send  a  large  force  were  constant.  The 
Adelantado  seconded  the  Irish  demands,  and  the  bigoted,  inexperienced 
young  king  was  burning  to  undertake  the  "  enterprise  of  England." 
But  he  was  absolutely  bankrupt,  and  his  new  guide  and  favourite,  the 
Duke  of  Lerma,  was  in  favour  of  deferring  the  undertaking  for  that 
year.  Lerma,  of  course,  had  his  way,  as  will  be  related  in  the  text. 
About  the  same  time  (June  1599)  Tyrone  also  received  several  cargoes 
of  munitions  in  Scottish  ships,  either  from  Scotland  or  from  France 
and  Flanders. 

^  Elizabeth  was  very  indignant  at  this  small  result  of  Essex's  journey. 
The  capture  of  Cahir  Castle  she  ridiculed  as  the  mere  "  taking  of  an 
Irish  hold  from  a  rabble  of  rogues  "  (Irish  State  Papers,  Elizabeth  to 
Essex,  July  1 9,  1 599).  Lord  Cahir  was  already  in  the  hands  of  the 
English,  and  his  castle  was  surrendered  by  the  rebels  at  his  request 
with  hardly  a  show  of  resistance.  Cecil,  writing  to  Sir  Henry  Neville 
in  France  (July  14),  explained  the  little  effect  produced  in  Munster  by 


ESSEX    IN    IRELAND  347 

through  Limerick,  Essex  had  to  fight  and  push  his 
way  through  the  Desmond  country,  inflicting  a  con- 
siderable defeat  upon  the  Catholic  Desmond  him- 
self on  June  II,  finally  arriving  at  ^^'aterfol•d  on 
the  2 1  St. 

Whilst  he  was  on  this  march  he  received  the 
peremptory  order  from  the  Queen  to  dismiss  South- 
ampton, and  he  wrote  in  reply  the  letter,  which  has 
often  been  printed,  in  which  he  so  passionately 
defends  himself  and  his  friend.  But  here  Essex 
suffered  his  first  fall,  for  he  dared  not  refuse  to 
obey  the  Queen's  indignant  command,  and  South- 
ampton was  dismissed.  The  temper  of  Essex  at 
the  time  is  shown  by  another  letter  from  him  (25th 
June)  to  the  Queen  herself,  giving  her  an  account 
of  his  movements  and  plans.  As  usual,  it  is  full  of 
complaints.  "  But  why,"  he  asks,  "  should  I  talk 
of  victory  or  success  ?  Is  it  not  known  that  from 
England  I  receive  nothing  but  discomforts  and  soul's 
wounds  ?  Is  it  not  spoken  in  the  army  that  your 
Majesty's  favour  is  diverted  from  me,  and  that 
already  you  do  bode  ill  both  to  me  and  it  ?  Is  it  not 
believed  by  the  rebels  that  those  whom  you  most 
favour  do  more  hate  me  out  of  faction  than  them 
out  of  duty  or  conscience?  Is  it  not  lamented  of 
your  Majesty's  faithfullest  subjects,  both  here  and 
there,  that  a  Cobham  or  a  Ralegh  (I  forbear  others 
for  their  places'  sake)  should  have  such  credit  and 
favour  with  your  Majesty,  when  they  wish  the  ill- 
success  of  your  Majesty's  most  important  action, 
the  decay  of  your  greatest  strength,  and  the  destruc- 

Essex  by  saying,  "  But  the  rouges  shunne  figlit,  and  so  know  how  to 
spend  us  and  eat  us  out  with  tyme  "  (Winwood  Papers). 


348  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

tion  of  your  faithfullest  servants  ?  Yes !  yes !  I 
do  see  both  my  own  destiny  and  your  Majesty's 
decree."  This  was  both  wicked  and  wrong-headed. 
There  was  no  desire  on  the  part  of  the  moderate 
members  of  the  Queen's  Government  that  he  should 
fail  in  Ireland,  and  his  suggestion  that  the  army 
itself  was  discontented  was  intended  as  a  veiled 
threat.  It  is  plain  to  see  that  his  jealousy  had 
warped  his  judgment,  and  that  he  believed  all  men 
to  be  leagued  together  for  his  ruin.  This  belief, 
real  or  pretended,  hurried  him  on  to  his  own  de- 
struction. 

And  thus  he  slowly  returned  to  Dublin,  raging 
against  the  Queen's  angry  disapproval  of  his  march 
through  Leinster  and  Munster.  On  his  way  back 
he  had  been  obliged  to  make  a  detour.  In  his 
absence  Sir  John  Harrington  had  endeavoured  to 
punish  and  suppress  the  O'Byrnes  and  O'Tooles, 
who  were  ravaging  Wicklow.  The  English  force, 
depleted  by  dishonesty,  desertion,  and  drafts  for 
service  elsewhere,  only  reached  about  300  men, 
and  Harrington  found  on  arriving  at  Wicklow, 
that  he  was  surrounded  by  hordes  of  rebels,  far 
exceeding  his  own  strength.  In  attempting  to 
secure  his  retreat  to  the  town  of  Wicklow  over 
a  ford  on  the  Ranelagh,  he  was  attacked  in  the 
rear.  Panic  seized  the  pikemen — "  base,  cowardly, 
ill-guided  clowns,"  as  Essex  calls  them — and  they 
fled  incontinently,  casting  away  their  arms,  accoutre- 
ments, and  even  their  garments,  most  of  them  being 
overtaken  and  slaughtered  by  the  rebels.  The 
wavering  chiefs  of  the  O'Byrnes,  O'Moores,  O'Con- 
nors, and  Kavanaghs  rallied  to  the  victorious  side, 


RETURN    TO    DUBLIN  349 

and  Essex  was  forced  to  turn  aside  and  face  the 
united  army  of  the  Leinster  rebels  at  Arklow.  He 
had  now  only  1200  fighting  men  with  him,  for  he 
had  left  garrisons  at  various  places  on  his  march ; 
and  at  one  time  during  the  ensuing  fight  it  looked 
as  if  he  must  be  overwhelmed,  for  his  guides  had 
misled  him,  and  the  rebels  caught  him  in  an  am- 
bush. But  a  charge  of  heavy  horse  saved  the  day, 
and  the  Leinster  men  were  beaten.  This  was  on 
the  29th  June,  and  early  in  July  Essex  entered 
Dublin  dispirited  and  distempered  in  mind  and 
body. 

His  march  through  the  provinces  had  produced 
no  important  effect  upon  the  rebels.  None  of  the 
chiefs  had  submitted.  The  little  garrisons  he  had 
scattered  about  were  all  surrounded,  and  the  armies 
of  the  northern  rebels  remained  intact  and  powerful. 
Rebuke  and  stern  reproof  came  from  the  Queen 
and  her  Council,^  whereupon  Essex  again  bewailed 
his  hard  fate  in  piteous  and  eloquent  letters,  saying 
that  he  was  being  stabbed  in  the  back  by  enemies  in 
London.    The  Council  tried  to  appease  him  with  dig- 

1  "  You  must  needs  think  that  we,  that  have  the  eyes  of  foreign 
princes  upon  our  actions,  and  have  the  heart  of  the  peoj^le  to  comfort 
and  cherish,  who  groan  under  the  burden  of  continual  levies  and 
impositions,  which  are  occasioned  by  these  late  actions,  can  little 
please  ourselves  with  anything  that  hath  been  effected  "  (Elizabeth  to 
Essex,  July  ig,  1599,  State  Papers,  Irish). 

With  regard  to  Essex's  complaints  of  the  enmity  of  the  Queen's  chief 
Ministers  a-jainst  him,  the  Council  wrote  gravely  :  "  We  can  only  say 
this,  that  those  imputations  of  any  indisposition  towards  you  are  so 
improper  to  us,  as  we  will  neither  do  your  Lordship  that  wrong  to  take 
them  as  so  intended,  nor  ourselves  that  injury  to  excuse  them  "  (ibid.). 

John  Chamberlain  writes  from  London  (28th  June)  :  "  The  Queene 
is  nothing  satisfied  with  the  Earl  of  Essex  manner  of  proceeding,  nor 
likes  anything  that  is  done.  She  sayes  she  allowes  him  loool.  a  day 
to  go  in  progresse." 


350  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

nified  assurances  and  expressions  of  confidence;  but 
they,  too,  were  forced  to  point  out  that  all  had  been 
done  that  was  possible  to  send  him  the  resources 
he  had  demanded.  The  Queen  ridiculed  the  idea 
of  his  being  wilfully  injured  by  his  enemies  at  court, 
and  became  haughtily  angry  at  his  veiled  menace 
that  many  of  the  gentlemen  in  his  train  were  so 
annoyed  at  her  treatment  of  him  in  the  matter  of 
Southampton  that  they  desired  to  return  to  England. 
At  length  she  grew  tired  of  his  childish  petu- 
lance, and  peremptorily  ordered  the  Earl  (July  30) 
to  proceed  against  Tyrone — "  that  base  bush-kern," 
as  she  called  him — who,  through  bad  management 
on  the  part  of  the  English,  had  now  "come  to 
be  accounted  so  famous  a  rebel"  as  to  need  the 
employment  of  many  thousands  of  soldiers  to  sup- 
press him.  She  had  spent  vast  sums  of  money, 
she  said,  specially  with  this  end,  and  yet  "  the 
base  rebels  shall  see  this  golden  calf  preserve  him- 
self without  taint  or  loss."  There  must  be  no  more 
whimpering  and  dallying  on  the  part  of  Essex,  He 
was  to  go  at  once  with  the  forces  he  had  and  engage 
Tyrone.  "And  after  you  shall  have  certified  us  to 
what  form  you  have  reduced  things  in  the  north, 
what  hath  been  the  success,  and  whom  you  and  the 
Council  could  wish  to  leave  with  that  charge  behind; 
and  that  being  done,  you  shall  with  all  speed 
receive  our  warrant,  without  which  we  do  charge 
you,  as  you  tender  our  pleasure,  that  you  adventure 
not  to  come  out  of  that  kingdom  by  virtue  of  any 
former  license  ivhatever."  ^ 

^  Elizabeth  to  Essex,  July  30,  1599,  Irish  State  Papers.     A  week 
later  she  wrote  again,  sternly  rebuking  Essex  for  not  going  on  his 


ESSEX   STARTS   FOR    ULSTER         351 

Before  he  received  this  letter  a  serious  blow  fell 
upon  the  English.  Sir  Conyers  Clifford,  the  Pre- 
sident of  Connaught,  was  completely  defeated  by 
O'Donnell  at  the  Curlews,  Clifford  and  all  the  princi- 
pal officers  being  killed,  and  450  men  being  slain  or 
wounded  in  their  headlong  flight.  Urged  by  this 
disaster  and  by  the  Queen's  reproaches,  Essex  hastily 
recruited  2000  more  Irish  troops  during  the  harvest- 
time,  and  informed  the  officers  of  his  forces  and 
the  Anglo-Irish  Lords  and  gentry  of  his  intention 
to  set  out  at  once  for  the  invasion  of  Ulster.  He 
had  not  available  for  the  field  more  than  3500  foot 
and  300  horse.  His  men,  as  he  was  never  tired 
of  writing,  were  mostly  shirkers,  cowards,  and 
malingerers.^  He  had  only  two,  or  at  most  three, 
general  officers  upon  whom  he  could  depend,  and 
his  company  and  regimental  officers  were  more 
concerned  in  lining  their  pockets  by  peculation 
and  bribery  than  in  fighting.  The  Connaught  chiefs, 
even  O'Connor-Sligo,  and  the  "  English  "  head 
of  the  Bourkes,  it  was  feared,  had  fallen  away  in 

errand  at  once,  instead  of  arguing  about  it,  and  she  threatened  to  call 
him  to  strict  account  unless  he  promptly  obeyed.  She  would  not 
allow  her  kingdoms,  her  honour,  and  the  lives  of  her  subjects  to  be 
trifled  with  any  longer.  "  We  see  the  bitter  effects  of  our  long-suffer- 
ings." She  throws,  however,  most  of  the  blame  on  the  Irish  Council, 
whom  she  abuses  roundly  for  their  Papist  sympathies  (Elizabeth  to 
Essex,  August  8,  ibid.). 

1  "  Her  Majesty  payeth  many,  but  hath  her  service  followed  by 
few,"  he  wrote  at  this  period,  "for  every  garrison  is  an  hospital, 
where  our  degenerate  countrymen  are  glad  to  entertain  sickness,  as  a 
supersedeas  for  their  going  into  the  field  ;  and  every  remove  of  an 
Irish  company  is  almost  the  breaking  of  it."  Again,  "  They  disband 
daily  :  the  Irish  go  over  to  the  rebels  by  herds  ;  and  the  others 
make  strange  adventures  to  steal  over  ;  and  some  force  themselves 
sick,  and  lie  like  creatures  that  neither  have  hearts  nor  souls" 
(Essex  to  the  Council,  Irish  State  Papers). 


352  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

consequence  of  Clifford's  defeat,  and  O'Donnell 
was  now  as  supreme  in  the  west,  as  Tyrone  was  in 
the  north  ;  the  rebel  armies  reaching  a  total  of  at 
least  16,000  men. 

All  these  discouraging  circumstances  were  urged 
by  Essex's  council-of-war  to  dissuade  him  from  pro- 
ceeding to  Ulster ;  but  the  orders  of  the  Queen  were 
so  positive  that  Essex  dared  not  disobey,  and  on  the 
28th  August  he  and  his  unfit  little  army  set  forth, 
leaving  affairs  in  Leinster  somewhat  better  than  they 
had  been.^  It  was  shrewdly  suspected  that  Tyrone 
would  repeat  his  old  policy  of  parley  and  delay,  and 
Essex,  in  order  to  bring  him  to  an  engagement,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  secure  the  future  safety  of  the 
Pale,  determined  to  make  Kells  his  base,  advancing 
thence  into  Ulster  by  Cavan  and  Monaghan,  driving 
back  Tyrone  to  his  own  far  northern  strongholds. 
On  arriving  at  Kells,  however,  it  was  found  that 
Tyrone  with  8000  men  was  in  the  neighbourhood, 
and  an  advance  of  Essex  towards  Cavan  would  have 
left  the  road  open  for  the  rebels  to  ravage  the  Pale. 
On  the  4th  September  the  English  found  themselves 
at  Ardagh,  in  full  sight  of  Tyrone's  forces,  which 
lay  on  a  hill  opposite  to  them,  with  the  river  Lagan 
running  between.     There  was  some  little  skirmish- 

^  Donnell  Spainagh  (Kavanagh),  the  Munster  chief,  who  had  been 
aiding  the  Leinstermen,  submitted.  The  other  principal  Kavanaghs 
under  Brian  M'Donagh  had  also  come  in,  and  Onie  M'Rory  O'Moore 
had  accepted  a  month's  truce,  in  which  some  of  the  principal  O'Byrnes 
had  joined.  The  O'Connors,  the  O'Molloys,  and  the  M'Geoghans  were 
still  in  the  field  in  Leinster.  It  must  be  repeated  here,  as  giving  the 
key  of  tiie  situation,  that  the  smaller  chieftains  were  not  at  all  desirous 
of  re-establishing  the  territorial  power  of  the  Irish  princelings  of  whom 
they  were  formerly  vassals.  They  usually  hastened  to  make  good 
terms  of  "  composition  "  for  themselves  on  the  first  opportunity. 


ESSEX    MEETS   TYRONE  353 

ing  of  stragglers  and  outposts,  but  no  general  fight ; 
and  as  the  country  was  bare  of  supplies,  Essex  was 
forced  to  march  down  the  river  towards  Louth, 
whither  his  stores  had  been  sent.  Tyrone  proceeded 
parallel  with  him  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream 
until  they  reached  the  Mills  of  Louth,  where  Essex 
crossed  and  encamped  within  sight  of  Tyrone's 
scouts,  the  main  body  of  the  rebels  being  concealed 
in  a  wood. 

The  next  day  Tyrone  sent  to  request  a  parley, 
which  Essex  refused,  but  told  the  messenger  that 
on  the  following  morning  he  would  be  at  the  head 
of  his  troops  on  a  hill  between  the  two  camps :  if 
Tyrone  wished  to  speak  with  him,  he  might  seek 
him  there.  True  to  his  word,  Essex  drew  up  his 
array  on  the  hill  at  the  hour  named,  and  on 
advancing  to  a  second  hill,  upon  which  were 
stationed  Tyrone's  cavalry,  the  latter  retired  before 
him  after  a  slight  skirmish.  Finding  that  Tyrone's 
main  force  did  not  show  itself,  Essex  returned  to 
his  camp,  the  rebel  Earl  sending  after  him  another 
message  still  desiring  a  conference.  Early  next 
morning  the  English  set  out  for  Drumcondra,  but 
had  hardly  gone  half-a-mile  before  Tyrone's  mes- 
senger, Captain  Hagan,  overtook  him,  and  said 
that  his  master  desired  the  Queen's  mercy,  and 
begged  that  the  Lord-Lieutenant  would  hear  him. 
If  the  Earl  would  do  so,  he  said,  he  (Tyrone)  would 
gallop  to  a  ford  at  Bellaclynthe,  which  lay  in  the 
way  to  Drumcondra,  where  he  would  await  his 
coming.  Essex  sent  two  of  his  officers  ahead  to 
reconnoitre  this  ford,  where  they  found  that  Tyrone 
had  already  arrived.     The  water,  however,  appeared 

z 


354  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

to  them  too  deep,  and  they  objected  to  the  place  as 
unfit  for  a  conference.  "Then,"  cried  Tyrone,  "I 
shall  despair  ever  to  speak  with  him."  On  exami- 
nation, a  shallower  place  was  found  lower  down,  and 
thither  Essex  was  conducted,  whilst  a  troop  of 
English  horse  commanded  the  position  from  a  hill 
overlooking  it,  and  a  similar  troop  of  Irish  crowned 
a  hill  on  the  opposite  side. 

Tyrone  sat  alone,  with  uncovered  head,  on  his 
horse  in  the  midst  of  the  stream,  the  water  of  which 
reached  his  girths.  Bowing  low  as  the  Queen's 
representative  approached,  he  bade  him  welcome  to 
Ireland ;  and  there,  with  no  person  within  earshot^ 
the  two  Earls  held  fateful  conference  for  full  half- 
an-hour,  Essex  on  hard  ground  and  Tyrone  with 
his  feet  in  the  running  water.  Exactly  what  passed 
at  that  interview  is  not  known,  but  spies  reported 
that  treason  to  crown  and  state  was  covertly  plotted.^ 
Tyrone  knew  that  Essex  was  deeply  discontented 
with  the  Queen's  Government,  and  that  he  had  made 
himself  the  champion  of  James  Stuart's  claim  to  the 
crown,  as  against  the  Cecil  plan  of  forwarding  that 
of  Arabella  with  a  Flemish-Spanish  alliance.  At 
the  same  time  letters  of  sympathy,  and  even  more 
solid  aids,  were  reaching  Tyrone  from  the  King  of 
Scots ;  and  there  seems  nothing  improbable,  seeing 

1  A  spy  who  professed  to  be  in  the  bushes  hard  by,  but  whose  testi- 
mony is  open  to  question,  said  that  when  Tyrone  bade  Essex  welcome 
to  Ireland,  the  latter  answered,  "  Nay !  ye  are  too  Scottish  to  bid  me 
welcome."  "  No,  my  Lord,"  replied  the  Irish  chief,  "  there  is  no  man 
liveth  that  may  better  welcome  your  father's  son."  "  Can  I  build  upon 
that  1 "  asked  Essex.  "  Yea  !  my  lord,  ye  may  be  sure  of  it."  This, 
according  to  the  informer  Udall,  led  up  to  a  treasonable  understanding 
between  them.  (See  Bathe's  and  Udall's  declarations  in  Irish  State 
Papers,  uncalendared,  208,  part  ii.) 


ESSEX    MEETS   TYRONE  355 

the  temper  of  Essex  and  his  ambitions,  that  he  may 
have  more  or  less  explicitly  connived  with  Tyrone 
on  this  occasion  at  a  plan  for  securing  the  succes- 
sion of  James,  conjointly  with  the  restoration  of  the 
territorial  princely  autonomy  of  Ireland,  or  at  least 
of  Ulster.  The  Spanish  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  iL 
the  following  year,  reported  to  Philip  III.,  on  the 
authority  of  Tyrone,  that  the  latter  had  "almost 
gained  the  Earl  of  Essex,  the  Queen's  commander, 
to  leave  her  side  and  join  your  Majesty,  surrendering 
the  country  to  you,  on  the  promise  of  great  favours 
in  your  Majesty's  name ;  and  O'Neil  gave  him  his 
own  son  as  hostage.  The  Earl  did  not  carry  out 
the  arrangement,  because  of  his  suspicion  of  your 
Majesty,  in  consequence  of  certain  acts  of  his 
against  Spain  some  time  ago."  ^  It  may  be  doubted 
if  this  is  quite  a  correct  statement  of  what  happened. 
Neither  Essex  nor  Tyrone  desired  to  "  surrender  the 
country  to  your  Majesty,"  and  it  is  much  more  pro- 
bable that  the  arrangement  fell  through  on  the 
question  of  Tyrone's  continued  adhesion  to  Spain 
and  the  supremacy  of  Catholicism.  The  success  of 
James  and  Tyrone  under  those  auspices  would  not 
have  served  Essex's  plans.  Religion  was  a  mere 
stalking-horse  for  most  of  the  Irish  chiefs ;  but 
doubtless  Tyrone  considered  it  a  stronger  lever  to 
work  with,  now  that  he  had  once  adopted  it,  than 
the  aid  of  a  self-seeking  hothead  like  Essex  of 
exactly  opposite  views. 

'  No  doubt  the  sacking  of  Cadiz,  where,  however,  Essex's  behaviour 
was  so  humane  and  chivah-ous  as  to  have  called  forth  the  greatest 
praise  and  flattery  from  Spaniards  generally,  even  from  Philiu  himself  ; 
and  the  Infanta,  who.^said,  "  If  he  treats  his  enemies  thus,  how  would 
he  treat  his  friends  ?  " 


356  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

When  Essex  retired  from  the  secret  interview, 
Tyrone's  base  son  Con  followed  him  and  prayed, 
in  his  father's  name,  that  a  conference  of  a  few 
chosen  men  on  each  side  might  then  be  held.  To 
this  the  Lord-Lieutenant  consented,  and  again  he 
descended  to  the  bank  of  the  stream,  this  time  with 
Southampton  and  five  of  his  principal  officers,  to 
meet  Tyrone  and  a  similar  number  of  Irish  chiefs, 
who  stood  in  the  stream  up  to  the  bellybands  of 
their  steeds.  A  further  meeting  was  held  next 
morning,  and  a  truce  of  six  weeks  was  concluded, 
to  be  extended  from  six  weeks  to  six  weeks  till  the 
following  May,  such  of  the  rebels  as  refused  to  join 
in  the  cessation  to  be  left  to  the  mercy  of  the 
English  (September  8,  1599). 

This  was  the  inglorious  and  impotent  conclusion 
of  the  vaunted  government  of  the  spoilt  favourite. 
The  forces  on  both  sides  were  withdrawn,  Tyrone 
returning  into  his  principality  of  Ulster,  and  Essex 
to  Drogheda.  No  attempt  even  had  been  made  to 
strike  at  the  rebels'  strength  ;  his  country  was  un- 
wasted,  his  crops  and  cattle  safe,  his  harbours  un- 
assailed,  and  his  prestige  now  higher  than  ever. 
Above  all,  what  rankled  in  the  heart  of  Elizabeth 
was  the  knowledge  that  all  her  "charges"  had  been 
in  vain,  and  the  money  she  had  so  painfully  borrowed 
was  worse  than  wasted.  The  letters  she  wrote  to 
her  hapless  favourite  were  steeped  in  bitter  scorn ; 
his  sneers  and  cavils  at  others,  the  ample  resources 
she  had  provided,  his  boasting  promises  of  victory, 
his  protestations  of  service,  are  all  paraded  before 
him  and  cruelly  contrasted  with  his  weak  pusillani- 
mous paltering  with  the  armed  rebellion  he  had  been 


ESSEX    FLIES   TO    ENGLAND         357 

sent  to  crush.  His  petulant  complaints  and  accu- 
sations of  personal  enmity  are  scathinii^ly  rebuked. 
"  We  have  seen  a  writine^  in  manner  of  a  catalogue 
full  of  challenges  that  are  impertinent  and  of  com- 
parisons that  are  needless,  such  as  hath  not  been 
before  this  time  presented  to  a  State,  except  it  be 
done  more  with  a  hope  to  terrify  all  men  from 
censuring  your  proceedings."  '  He  had  no  power,  she 
told  him,  to  make  such  terms  as  he  had  done,  though 
now  he  had  done  so  they  should  be  respected,  and 
she  hinted  more  than  once  to  him,  who,  to  do  him 
justice,  was  as  brave  as  he  was  proud,  that  he  was 
either  disloyal  or  a  coward.  It  must  well-nigh  have 
broken  his  heart,  but  it  quite  banished  his  judgment. 
He  knew  how  his  presence  affected  the  Queen,  and 
he  dreamed  that  tears  and  love-lorn  submission  at 
her  feet,  even  if  he  returned  against  her  express 
sovereign  command,  would  still  be  strong  enough  to 
overcome  her  indignation.  But  weak  as  she  was  in 
many  things,  she  was  strongest  of  all  in  her  sense 
of  regal  duty  and  her  personal  dignity.  Essex  had 
outraged  both  by  his  perverse  failure  and  his  petulant 
presumption,  and  henceforward  he  must  be  humbled 
to  the  dust  or  he  must  die.  He,  poor,  blind,  vain- 
glorious creature,  knew  it  not,  but  added  desertion 
of  his  post  to  his  past  disobedience,  and  leaving 
Loftus  and  Carey  to  govern  in  his  absence,  he  posted 
over  to  England  without  notice. 

"He  never  drew  a  sword,"  sneered  the  Irish,  "  but 
to  dub  knights,^  and,  like  a  hasty  messenger,  he  ran 

'  Elizabeth  to  Essex,  September  14,  1599,  Irish  State  Papers. 
2  He  had  given  great  offence  to  Elizabeth  by  his  lavish  creation  of 
knights  in  Normandy  and  at  Cadiz,  and  a  "  knight  of  Cales"  became  a 


2S^  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

away  before  he  had  finished  his  errand."  As  fast  as 
posthorses  could  bring  him  he  rode  to  Westminster, 
where  he  learned  that  the  court  was  at  Nonsuch. 
Then  crossing  to  Lambeth  and  seizing  such  horses  as 
were  waiting  there  for  their  masters,  he  sped  on  to  the 
Queen's  house.  Lord  Grey  de  Wilton  passed  him 
on  the  road,  and  riding  ahead,  was  able  to  warn 
Cecil  of  the  Earl's  coming  some  ten  minutes  before 
his  arrival.  The  Queen  was  not  yet  about  when, 
at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Michaelmas  Day, 
1599,  Essex  alighted  at  Nonsuch  gate.  He  was 
mud-bespattered  and  haggard  with  his  headlong 
journey,  but  he  waited  not  a  moment.  Pressing 
forward  through  the  presence  chamber  and  ante- 
rooms, none  daring  to  stay  him,  he  came  unbidden 
into  the  Queen's  bed-chamber,  where  her  Majesty 
sat  only  half-dressed  with  "  her  hair  about  her  face." 
Then  throwing  himself  at  her  feet  he  kissed  her 
hand  and  prayed  for  pardon.  The  Queen  was  so 
much  taken  aback  that  she  forbore  to  chide  him, 
and  he  went  with  a  light  heart  and  smiling  face  to 


scoffing  by- word.  It  was  felt  generally  that  his  object  was  to  gain 
adherents  to  serve  his  own  ambition,  but  now  that  fifty-nine  knights 
were  added  to  his  creations  under  patent  in  Ireland  during  the  six 
months  he  was  there,  the  suspicion  was  fully  confirmed,  since  there  were 
no  feats  of  arms  to  reward.  Chamberlain  writes  (August  23),  derid- 
ing some  of  the  new  knights,  and  continues,  "  It  is  much  marvelled  that 
this  humour  should  so  possess  him,  that,  not  content  with  his  first 
dozens  and  scores,  he  should  thus  fall  to  huddle  them  up  by  the  halfe- 
hundreds,  and  it  is  noted  as  a  strange  thing  that  a  subject  in  the  space 
of  seven  years  (not  having  been  sixe  moneths  together  in  any  one  action) 
sholde  upon  so  litle  service  and  small  desert  make  more  knights  than 
in  all  the  realme  besides.  It  is  doubted  if  he  continue  in  this  course  he 
will  shortly  bring  in  tag  and  rag,  cut  and  long  taile,  and  so  draw  the 
order  into  contempt."  When  he  returned  to  England  Elizabeth  was 
with  difficulty  dissuaded  from  unmaking  the  knights  he  had  dubbed. 


ESSEX   AT    NONSUCH  359 

put  himself  in  order  for  further  speech  with  her. 
An  hour  later  he  saw  her  again,  and  still  no  angr}' 
reproaches  greeted  him.  At  dinner  his  friends, 
reassured,  flocked  to  him,  and  to  them  he  "  dis- 
coursed merrily  of  his  travels,"  and  "  thanked  God 
that,  though  he  had  suffered  much  trouble  and 
storms  abroad,  he  found  a  sweet  calm  at  home." 
Alas !  for  him,  it  was  the  calm  that  precedes  the 
tornado.  Cecil  and  his  friends  had  stood  aloof  from 
him,  and  when  the  Earl,  gay  and  debonnaire  now, 
in  easy  confidence  of  his  influence  over  the  Queen, 
went  to  see  her  after  dinner,  he  found  her  changed. 
With  haughty  severity  she  directed  him  to  attend 
her  Council  and  give  to  them  an  account  of  his 
proceedings  in  Ireland  and  an  explanation  of  his 
disobedient  return. 

With  bowed,  uncovered  head  and  apologetic 
mien,  he  stood  before  the  men  he  hated  and  con- 
temned, whilst  he  palliated,  excused,  and  apologised 
for  what  he  had  done  or  left  undone.  That  evening 
Essex  was  a  prisoner  under  arrest,  and  for  many 
days  to  come  he  stood  daily  before  the  Council, 
making  the  best  of  a  sorry  business,  but  full  of 
plans  still  by  which  he  dreamed  of  crushing  at  one 
blow  these  men,  who  were,  he  thought,  banded  to- 
gether to  weaken  or  subject  English  Protestantism, 
and  to  ruin  its  strongest  champion,  Robert  Devereux, 
Earl  of  Essex.  How  could  he  foresee  that  the  sly 
little  man  whose  brain  directed  the  forces  against 
him  would  betray  and  destroy  his  own  associates,  and 
reach  lifelong  power  by  the  road  that  Essex  himself 
meant  to  tread  ?  In  the  meanwhile  all  went  merry 
as  a  marriage  bell  with  the  Cecil  party ;  and  the  day 


36o  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

after  Essex's  arrest,  "Mr.  Secretary"  gave  a  great 
banquet,  at  which  were  gathered  the  Howards  and 
Talbots,  Arabella's  uncle  Shrewsbury,  Cobham,  Gray, 
Carew,  and  Ralegh — all  the  men  against  whom 
the  fallen  favourite  had  raged  and  stormed  in  his 
pride. 


CHAPTER    XI 

The  aspect  of  the  succession  question  in  England — Cecil  and  Essex — 
Negotiations  for  peace  with  Sj^ain — Renewed  alarm  of  Spanish 
invasion  in  England — Measures  for  defence — Probable  intentional 
exaggeration  of  the  fears,  for  political  reasons— James  continues  to 
intrigue  with  the  Catholics  for  support — The  Pope's  offer  to  him — 
Fitziierbert's  address  to  Philip  respecting  the  Scottish  advances- 
Lord  Semple's  mission  to  Madrid — The  future  religion  of  England 
trembling  in  the  balance. 

The  two  great  conspiracies  for  securing  the  English 
succession  were  now  bracing  themselves  for  the  final 
struggle.  The  Queen's  age  had  only  increased  her 
determination  that  during  her  lifetime  no  successor 
to  her  throne  should  be  acknowledged  ;  but  it  was 
obvious  to  Englishmen  of  all  sorts  that  some  arrange- 
ment must  be  made  for  the  great  change  before  it 
happened,  unless  England  was  to  be  plunged  at  the 
critical  moment  into  the  vortex  of  civil  war,  and 
perhaps  foreign  invasion.  The  centres  of  the  two 
conspiracies,  which  we  have  seen  were  formerly  in 
Madrid  and  Rome  respectively,  had  now  (1599) 
gradually  changed  their  position  to  England  itself. 
This  much,  at  least,  had  been  gained  by  the  proved 
ability  of  Englishmen  to  defend  their  country  against 
foreign  invasion  or  dictation,  and  by  the  increased 
patriotic  pride  which  the  brilliant  reign  of  the  Queen 
had  infused  into  all  of  her  subjects  ;  but,  neverthe- 
less, each  of  the  two  factions  which  divided  the 
English  court  still  looked  for  outside  support  and 

alliance  to  strengthen  and  justify  its  action. 

361 


362  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  define  clearly  the  exact 
limits  of  each  conspiracy ;  for  there  were  many  sub- 
sidiary and  personal  issues,  abundant  lying  and 
betrayal  on  either  hand,  and,  so  far  as  was  possible, 
a  studious  concealment  of  action  and  aim.  But, 
generally  speaking,  the  patent  impotence  of  Spain 
now  to  enforce  her  religious  views  upon  England, 
and  the  erection  of  the  Belgic  provinces  into  a 
separate  sovereignty,  had  caused  a  tendency  to  re- 
sume in  England  the  old  political  line  of  cleavage, 
which  had  been  obscured  for  many  years  by  the  new 
religious  groupings  consequent  on  the  Reformation. 
The  moderate  or  old-fashioned  English  element, 
the  germ  of  the  present  Conservative  party,  largely 
influenced  by  respect  for  the  past  and  by  Catholic 
traditions,  looked  again  to  a  close  Belgic  alliance, 
which  necessarily  mean  either  a  mild  tolerant  Catho- 
lic supremacy  like  that  existing  in  France,  or  the 
continuance  of  the  Anglican  establishment  with  such 
toleration  to  Catholics  as  was  allowed  by  Henry  IV. 
to  the  Huguenots.  Of  this  party,  which  included  the 
heads  of  the  old  nobility,  the  Howards,  Stanleys, 
Talbots,  Grevilles,  Brookes,  Somersets,  Herberts,  and 
their  like,  Sir  Robert  Cecil  was  supposed  to  be  the 
head,  or  at  least  the  brain ;  but  whatever  may  have 
been  the  ultimate  object  of  most  of  the  members,  it 
is  certain  that  Cecil  himself  never  intended  that  the 
Anglican  Church  as  established  should  be  over- 
thrown or  radically  altered  in  a  Catholic  sense,  as  a 
result  of  any  action  of  his  party.  Although  nearly 
all  English  Catholic  priests  and  laymen — except  only 
the  Jesuit  faction — belonged  to  this  group,  Cecil  in 
his  official  relations  always  maintained  an  attitude 


TWO    DYNASTIC    FACTIONS  363 

of  strict  reserve,  not  to  say  severity,  towards  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  old  religion ;  and,  as  we  have  seen  by 
Father  Watson's  letter  on  page  315,  had  expressly 
repudiated  even  the  word  "toleration"  in  connection 
with  them/ 

The  other  dynastical  conspiracy  was  headed  by 
Essex,  who  had  succeeded  his  stepfather,  Leicester, 
in  his  position  as  leader  of  the  men  professing  the 
newer  or  reformed  ideas.  Around  him  were  grouped 
the  Puritan  elements,  which  resented  the  retention 
of  Catholic  forms  or  traditions  in  Anglican  worship, 
and  sought  to  perpetuate  the  alienation  from  Spain 
and  Spanish  Belgium,  which  had  been  brought  about 
by  Philip's  arrogant  attempt  to  dictate  the  religion 
to  England.  To  semi-Huguenot  France  and  Presby- 
terian Scotland  this  party  naturally  turned  its  eyes  : 
and,  broadly,  in  politics  Essex  stood  for  a  French- 
Scottish  alliance,  and  Cecil  for  a  Belgic-Spanish 
alliance.  The  issues  were,  however,  infinitely  com- 
plicated by  the  self-seeking  attempt  of  James  VI. 
to  intersect  both  conspiracies  by  his  own  lines  of 
intrigue.     He  was  tireless  in  his  attempts  to  obtain 

*  Many  instances  of  this  are  seen  in  Cecil's  treatment  of  the  Catholica 
whom  he  employed  as  spies.  The  priests  of  the  "loyal"  faction  were 
treated  almost  as  harshly  as  the  Jesuit  fathers.  Writing  to  Sir  Henry 
Neville  in  Paris,  with  reference  to  applications  of  Charles  Paget,  Sir 
Thomas  Tresham,  Father  Cecil,  and  other  repentant  refugees,  for  par- 
don and  permission  to  return  to  England,  Cecil  says  that  he  knows 
very  well  that  if  they  have  fallen  out  with  the  Jesuits,  it  is  from  no 
love  of  England,  but  to  work  their  own  ends.  If  the  refugees  like  to 
do  any  real  service  to  show  their  hearts  are  changed,  their  cases  may 
be  considered  ;  but  they  need  not  hope  for  pardon  on  mere  professions 
or  upon  sending  information  which  may  be  false.  Cecil  speaks  of  all 
these  refugee  Englishmen  in  the  most  offensive  terms.  He  calls  his 
namesake,  John  Cecil,  who  for  ten  years  past  had  given  him  informa- 
tion, "  a  lewd  priest  with  an  honest  name  "  (see  Winwood  Papers). 


364  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

some  recognition  of  his  right  from  Elizabeth ;  but 
when  he  at  last  understood  that  neither  cajolerj' 
nor  menace  could  win  that  from  her,  he  made 
efforts  to  obtain  the  countenance  of  the  principal 
statesmen  of  her  court.  The  Abbot  of  Kinloss 
(Edward  Bruce),  his  agent  for  the  purpose  in 
England,  could  triumphantly  point  out  to  Catholics 
that  James's  actions  showed  that  he  was  on  their 
side.  His  agents  in  Rome,  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Glasgow  in  Paris,  were  busy  impressing  the  same 
fact  upon  the  non-Spanish  Catholic  powers  ;  whilst 
Denmark  and  the  German  princes,  as  well  as  the 
mass  of  English  Protestants,  were  attracted  not  only 
by  the  strength  of  his  legal  claims,  which  were 
laboriously  enforced  by  means  of  pamphlets  and 
treatises,  but  they  were  also  urged  to  support  him 
as  the  main  bulwark  against  renewed  Spanish  ag- 
gression. Essex  himself,  James's  principal  hench- 
man in  England,  Puritan  though  he  was,  and 
gravely  apprehensive  of  the  King's  dallying  with 
Papists,  attracted  Catholics  to  his  side  by  promising 
toleration  for  their  religion.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  moderate  party  of  Cecil  was  gaining  Puritan 
sympathy  by  their  severity  towards  Catholics  and 
their  rejection  of  all  suggestions  of  toleration. 
Personal  rivalry  and  jealousy  further  complicated 
an  already  involved  position,  and  finally,  each  party 
for  its  own  ends  chose  to  blacken  its  opponents 
by  attributing  to  them  objects  which  they  must 
have  known  to  be  false.  They  have  thus  led 
astray  not  only  their  own  generation  but  all  the 
generations  that  have  succeeded  them.  The  Essex 
party,    for   instance,    loudly   proclaimed   that   Cecil 


TWO    DYNASTIC   FACTIONS  365 

and  his  friends,  especially  Cobham  and  Kalegh, 
had  arranged  to  sell  England  to  the  Infanta,  whicli 
at  the  time  was  absurd,  and  is  now,  perhaps  for  the 
first  time,  demonstrably  untrue ;  whilst  the  "  mode- 
rates "  cast  upon  Essex  the  reproach  that  he  sought 
by  armed  force  to  seize  the  crown  of  England  for 
himself.^ 

Outside  the  two  main  conspiracies  there  was  the 
old  irreconcilable  Jesuit-Spanish  party,  greatly  re- 
duced now  by  its  unpopularity  in  England  and  by 
repeated  failure,  but  still  bragging  about  the 
thrusting  of  the  Spanish  form  of  Catholicism  with 
a  Spanish  monarch  upon  England,  with  or  against 
her  will.  After  the  death  of  Philip  II.  this  party 
in  Spain  itself  temporarily  flared  into  hope  again. 

^  Even  James  seems  to  have  been  persuaded  that  this  was  the  case 
soon  after  Essex's  death — though  he  must  have  changed  his  mind  when 
he  became  King  of  England — for  he  always  called  Essex  "mi/  martyr,^' 
and  loaded  his  son  with  favours,  whilst  he  disgraced  Ralegh  and 
(Jobham.  In  the  often  printed  letter,  written  bj'  the  Earl  of  Northiim- 
berlaml  to  James  in  1601  (Hatfield  Papers),  assuring  him  of  the  general 
consensus  of  feeling  in  his  favour  amongst  all  classes  in  England,  the 
Earl  refers  to  a  remark  made  by  James,  that  he  "  had  lost  no  great 
friend "  by  Essex's  death,  and  confirms  this  opinion  as  follows : 
"Although  he  was  a  man  endued  with  good  gifts,  yet  was  his  loss 
the  happiest  chance  for  your  Majesty  and  England  that  could  l)efall  us  ; 
for  either  do  I  fail  in  my  judgment,  or  lie  would  have  been  a  bloody 
scourge  to  our  nation.  .  .  .  Did  he  not  decree  that  it  was  scandalous 
to  our  nation  that  a  stranger  should  be  our  king?  Was  not  his 
familiarity  with  me  quite  cancelled  when  he  discovered  my  disposition 
leaning  to  your  right,  and  that  I  was  not  to  be  led  by  his  fortunes  ?  .  .  . 
How  often  have  I  heard  that  he  inveighed  against  you  amongst  such 
as  he  conceived  to  be  birds  of  his  own  fortune?  Did  his  soldier- 
followers  dream  but  of  his  being  King  of  England  ? "  Northumberland 
continues  in  this  strain  for  several  pages  ;  but  he  was  a  poor,  mean- 
spirited  creature,  and  was  evidently  currying  favour  for  himself  by 
blackening  his  dead  bmther-in-law,  so  that  his  evidence  against  Essex 
does  not  go  for  much,  if  even  the  writer  was  honestly  stating  his 
conviction. 


366  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

The  young  King,  whose  education  was  narrow  and 
bigoted,  dreamed  of  carrying  with  a  rush  the  great 
object  at  which  his  father  had  toiled  fruitlessly  for 
so  long.  Spain  was  to  resume  her  greatness  and 
her  strength  under  a  new  energetic  ruler,  and  the 
Catholic  supremacy  was  to  make  her  predominant 
in  the  world.  The  Adelantado  and  the  Count  de 
Fuentes,  hot-headed  fanatics  both,  were  for  ever 
breathing  fire  and  fury  against  the  heretics ;  the 
bishops  and  Jesuits  who  flocked  about  the  court 
were  as  sanctimoniously  truculent  as  ever,  and,  for 
a  time,  the  conquest  of  England  seemed  easy  and 
imminent  to  these  extremists.  But  in  the  course  of 
our  story  we  shall  see  that  sloth,  waste,  and  a  love 
of  pleasure,  joined  to  the  utter  prostration  and  cor- 
ruption that  had  overtaken  the  people,  paralysed 
the  action  of  Spain  more  effectually  even  than 
the  niggard  centralisation  of  the  greater  Philip 
had  done. 

Tyrone's  success  introduced  another  disturbing- 
element  in  the  situation,  and  each  party  had  to  take 
into  consideration  the  force  that  he  might  bring- 
to  bear  for  or  against  them.  For  purposes  of  his 
own,  the  Irish  chief  had  elected  to  fight  under  the 
Catholic  banner,  and  to  obtain  such  help  as  he 
could  from  Spain ;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  that  did 
not  prevent  Puritan  Essex  and  James  from  courting 
him  in  the  interests  of  the  latter,  whilst  to  the 
"  moderate "  party  in  England,  Catholics  though 
most  of  the  leaders  were,  it  was  absolutely  vital  to 
crush  Tyrone  utterly,  cost  what  it  might ;  for  they 
knew  that  the  victory  of  Catholic  rebellion  in  Ireland 
by  Spanish  arms  would   have   meant  the  downfall 


THE   ENGLISH    PARTIES  367 

of  the  potent  edifice  of  English  independence, 
which  the  Queen  and  they  had  so  strenuously 
built  up.  Tyrone  might  speak  fairly  now,  but  neither 
he,  nor  Essex,  nor  James,  could  hold  the  Spanish 
avalanche  if  once  it  was  started,  crafty  as  they 
all  thought  themselves  in  their  efforts  to  harness 
it  to  their  own  chariot.  This  was  the  position  of 
affairs  when,  amidst  squabbles  and  jealousies  in- 
numerable, Essex  went  to  Ireland  in  the  spring 
of  1599. 

As  a  result  of  the  approaches  made  to  him,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  letter  he  wrote  to  Philip  II. 
(page  330),  on  his  assumption  of  the  sovereignty  of 
Flanders  for  the  Infanta,  the  Archduke  Albert  sent 
a  confidential  agent,  named  Coomans,  to  England 
in  the  beginning  of  1599,  to  discuss  with  Cecil  the 
possibility  of  a  peace  being  made.  He  was  sent 
back  with  amiable  though  vague  expressions  of  a 
desire  to  come  to  terms,  if  conditions  could  be 
arranged.^  It  was  known,  however,  that  nothing 
really  would  be  done  until  the  Archduke  had  seen 
his  new  brother-in-law,  Philip  III.,  and  a  basis  for 
future  relations  had  been  laid.^  It  was  Cecil's 
policy,  whilst  keeping  even  his  own  agents  in  the 
dark  as  to  his  desire  for  peace,  to  give  out  generally 
that  Spain  was  seeking  a  modus  Vivendi ;  the  object 
being  partly  to  encourage  the  "  moderate  "  section 
and  the  mercantile  interests  in  England,  and  parth 
to  render  more  pliable  the  King  of  France,  whose 
naval   activity   and   growing  friendship   with   Spain 

1  Cecil  to  Sir  Henry  Neville,  July  2  (Winwood  Papers). 

2  The  Archduke  had  gone  to  Spain  to  marry  the  Infanta,  which  he 
did  in  May,  embarking  at  Ijarcelona  for  Italy  on  his  return  in  June. 


368  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

were  causing  no  little  uneasiness  to  Elizabeth.^  It 
was  important  at  the  same  time  for  Cecil  and  his 
friends  not  to  appear  desirous  of  peace,  for  fear  of 
alienating  the  Puritan  party  in  England,  and  the 
Dutch,  who  had  undertaken  to  retain  a  strong  fleet 
on  the  coast  of  Spain  during  the  summer  ( i  599)  to 
prevent  any  attack  upon  England  whilst  the  prin- 
cipal national  forces  were  in  Ireland.  To  keep  the 
matter  of  peace  alive,  agents  came  with  letters  to 
the  Queen  and  Cecil  on  the  subject  in  June  from 
the  Archduke's  locum  tenens  in  Flanders,  the  Car- 
dinal Andrea  ;  but  it  was  still  policy  for  Cecil  to 
hold  back,^  for  great  things  were  then  expected  of 
Essex  in  Ireland,  and  the  Dutch  had  promised  to 
commit  vast  devastation  on  the  shipping  and  ports 
of  Spain,  either  of  which  events  would  have  enabled 
better  terms  to  be  made  for  England. 

Suddenly,  however,  in  July  a  change  came  over 
the  appearance  of  affairs.  The  spies  of  Cecil  had 
continued  to  report  the  great  naval  and  military 
preparations  in  Spain  and  the  vapouring  of  the 
revived  militant  party  there  ;    but  with  the  Dutch 

1  See  correspondence  in  Winwood  Papers,  Part  i. 

^  The  answer  sent  by  the  Queen  to  Coomans'  advances  was  thus 
reported  by  the  Venetian  ambassador  in  France  to  the  Doge.  "  She 
declares  that  she  is  equally  desirous  of  peace  ;  but  that  she  cannot 
initiate  nor  conduct  any  negotiations,  for  she  has  no  guarantee  that 
the  terms  agreed  upon  would  be  maintained,  as  she  is  not  dealing  with 
a  person  of  sufficient  authority.  She  repeats  what  she  said  before,  that 
whilst  she  was  negotiating  with  the  Duke  of  Parma,  she  found  herself 
tricked,  for  the  Spaniards  attacked  England  with  a  powerful  fleet 
(1588).  But  still  she  promises  not  to  lose  time,  but  to  make  inquiries 
as  to  the  opinion  of  the  States  (Holland),  and  in  this  way  she  puts  off 
the  business,  because  she  wishes  to  see  whether  Flanders  is  to  be 
entirely  separated  from  the  Spanish  crown  (Venetian  Calendar.  Con- 
tarini  to  the  Doge,  April  25,  1599). 


ANOTHER   SCARE    IN   ENGLAND     369 

fleet  threatening  the  Spanish  coast  and  the  known 
disorganisation  of  the  kingdom,  it  was  conchided 
that  the  armaments  were  intended  for  defence  alone; 
and  so  it  happened  that  while  Essex  and  the  soldiers 
were  on  their  weary  and  harren  march  through 
Munster  the  Queen's  navy  was  mainly  laid  up  in 
dock.  This  being  the  case,  early  in  July  Cecil 
received  news  that  the  Dutch  fleet,  bent  mainly 
upon  plunder,  had  sailed  away  to  Madeira,  leaving 
the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  the  Channel  open  for  a 
Spanish  fleet,  and  at  the  same  time  intelligence 
arrived  that  an  agent  of  the  King  of  Spain  had  gone 
to  request  the  Governor  of  Brest  to  allow  a  Spanish 
fleet  to  anchor  in  his  port.  This  news  fell  in  London 
like  a  thunderbolt.  Couriers  were  sent  flying  to 
France  to  beg  the  King  not  to  shelter  the  enemy's 
vessels,  and  from  end  to  end  of  England  the  country 
was  aroused  to  its  defence.  "  It  was  little  expected," 
wrote  Cecil  to  the  English  Ambassador  in  France, 
"that  those  who  published  so  brave  a  purpose  to 
interrupt  all  supplies  for  Spain, ^  and  to  keep  the 
coast  blocked  up  from  trade,  would  now  thus,  fondly 
and  mechanically,  put  all  upon  a  journey  to  the 
islands  for  wines  and  sugars.  Now  that  Spain  is 
clear  of  them  {i.e.  the  Dutch),  and  hath  in  readiness 
forces  to  have  defended,  he  (the  Adelantado)  may  in 
all   probability   convert   some   hitherward." ""      Cecil 

'  Vast  quantities  of  corn  and  other  provisions,  &c.,  had  heeu  sent 
from  France  to  Spain.  Elizabeth  had  bound  herself  to  respect  the 
French  flag,  but  she  did  not  bargain  for  this,  and  bitter  complaints 
were  made  by  Neville  to  Henry  IV.,  whilst  an  acrimonious  dispute 
proceeded  on  the  same  subject  with  the  French  Ambassador  in  Fngland 
(see  Correspondence  in  Win  wood  Papers). 

2  Cecil  to  Neville,  July  14,  1599  (Win wood  Papers). 

2   A 


370  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

had  full  warrant  for  fearing  this  from  the  reports  of 
his  agents.  One  usually  very  well  informed  spy 
wrote  to  him  (July  24)  in  the  most  alarming  strain 
from  Lisbon.  The  Adelantado,  he  assured  him,  was 
bound  for  England  or  L'eland.  He  had  just  arrived 
in  Lisbon  with  35  ships  from  Andalusia,  and  after 
embarking  in  the  Tagus  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
troops  to  the  number  of  4000,  was  to  proceed  to 
Corunna.  He  had  already  6000  soldiers  on  board 
his  fleet,  almost  as  many  as  his  ships  would  carry, 
but  (and  this  is  a  good  instance  of  the  complete 
want  of  organisation  existing)  the  large  number  of 
German  and  Flemish  vessels  that  had  been  seized 
some  time  before  to  carry  the  additional  troops  and 
stores  had  all  bribed  their  way  out  and  had  escaped. 
Still  his  force  was  formidable,  for  there  were  14 
galleys  and  other  ships  ready  to  sail — though  short 
of  artillery — at  Corunna  and  Ferrol,  and  at  least 
8  fine  new  galleons  in  the  Biscay  ports.  In  all, 
the  spy  reported  that  the  fleet  would  consist  of 
35  galleons,  22  galleys,  15  or  20  caravels,  and  35 
other  vessels,  and  the  armed  forces  to  land  would 
reach  25,000  soldiers. 

This  was  the  most  formidable  force  that  had  been 
organised  since  the  Armada,  if  it  had  been  as  effi- 
cient as  was  reported  on  paper;  and  there  was,  for 
the  first  time  since  1588,  a  momentary  revival  of  the 
crusading  spirit  that  had  given  Spain  force  in  years 
gone  by.  ''They  go  forward  with  the  old  vanity  of 
1588,  making  full  account  of  victory,  and  never 
respecting  to  prevent  that  anything  should  happen 
to  the  contrary.  Falmouth  is  spoken  of,  yet  I  think 
it  is  no  place  for  conquest,  unless  he  first  put  his 


INVASION    RUMOURS  371 

men  on  land,  and  then,  having  fortified,  go  to  Ire- 
land, and  so  transport  some  of  Tyrone's  people  for 
their  further  strength  ;  but  if  they  depend  to  trans- 
port the  Irish  into  England,  some  ports  of  the  Severn 
or  Welsh  coast  will  be  pretended."  ^  The  writer, 
however,  thinks  they  will  first  go  to  Ireland  and 
land  at  Limerick,  and  he  sounds  a  note  of  alarm 
that  a  diversion  or  conjoint  attempt  at  invasion  will 
be  attempted  from  Flanders.  Above  all,  he  says,  let 
the  Queen  look  to  herself,  for  her  death  is  daily 
threatened,  and  if  it  can  be  effected  it  is  determined. 
Let  the  English  ships,  he  prays,  stand  on  the  defen- 
sive, if  they  can  do  nothing  else,  "  for  the  Spanish 
practices  will  go  forward  until  they  have  either 
destroyed  themselves  or  spoiled  England."  "All 
these  mischievous  intents  began  by  English  semi- 
narists and  Irish  bishops.  Ferret  out  such  fellows 
in  England,  for  there  be  many  of  them  there.  The 
Spaniards  have  great  hope  of  help  from  some  great 
men  there  {i.e.  in  England),  stirred  up  at  their 
instigation."  "  The  Adelantado  is  so  stirred  up 
against  England  that,  though  it  be  already  late  for 
the  galleys  to  go  out,  it  shall  be  a  bad  time  of  the 
year  that  he  will  refuse  to  go  over,  as  by  his  last 
voyage  you  had  had  experience,  if  God  had  not  pre- 
vented. If  this  summer  he  should  be  hindered,  be 
assured  of  him  betimes  in  the  spring.  Meanwhile 
all  helps  have  been,  and  will  be,  sent  to  Tyrone,  for 
upon  his  broken  staff  they  hope  to  lay  a  great  foun- 
dation to  annoy,  yea,  to  conquer  England." "" 

In  Spain  and  Portugal  the  talk,  of  which  this  was 

'  Van  Harnack  to  Cecil,  July  24,  1599  (State  Papers,  Domestic). 

2  lind. 


372  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

a  faithful  echo,  ran  that  the  Queen  of  England  was 
dead,  and  that  the  King  of  Spain  would,  in  his 
clemency,  not  capture  the  country  for  himself,  but 
would  take  advantage  of  the  confusion  to  establish 
an  English  Catholic  of  royal  blood  ;  "  but  still,"  said 
Cecil's  agent,  "  the  crown  is  their  desire,  and  upon 
this  cast  of  the  die,  he  assured  his  master,  the  future 
of  both  countries  depended."  Almost  solemnly  he 
declares  that  this  is  Spain's  last  possible  effort. 
"  Here  goeth  the  whole  seal  of  Spain.  Spoil  this 
and  wear  the  Spanish  crown.  Their  sweet  speeches, 
that  they  come  not  for  conquest  but  to  raise  up  the 
next  heir  that  is  Catholic  to  the  English  crown,  are 
dangerous.  Possibly  some  Jesuit  persuasions  have 
seduced  the  English  Papists  to  believe  it,  but  let 
them  not  be  deceived,  it  is  the  English  crown  the 
Spaniards  covet,  and  not  religion  or  conscience.  I 
fear  there  is  some  great  personage  already  obtained 
unto  that  which  the  last  Earl  of  Derby  denied, 
though  I  accuse  none,  yet  by  their  speeches  it  is  a 
dangerous  suspicion."  ^ 

This  fairly  represented  the  inflated  current  ideas 
of  the  Spaniards  and  their  English  sympathisers 
under  the  hopeful  influence  of  a  new  reign  ;  but 
those  who  held  them  had  not  the  privilege,  as  we 
have,  of  raising  the  veil  that  covered  the  secret 
deliberations  of  Philip's  councils,  and  of  under- 
standing to  the  full  the  demoralisation,  the  corrup- 
tion, the  ineptitude,  and  the  penury  that  prevailed, 
notwithstanding  the  frenzy  of  presumption  and  pro- 
digality that  had  attended  the  King's  first  progress 
to   meet  his  bride,  under  the  auspices  of  his  now 

^  Van  Harnack  to  Cecil,  July  25,  1599  (State  Papers,  Domestic). 


ENGLISH    WAR    PREPARATIONS      373 

all-powerful  favourite,  the  Marquis  of  Deuia  (Duke 
of  Lerma).  The  Adelantado  might  vapour  on  the 
quays  of  Lisbon  or  Ferrol,  and  Fuentes  sneer  at 
heretics  in  the  council  chamber,  but  the  ships 
scattered  in  the  various  ports  were  mostly  unpro- 
vided, unmanned,  and  unseaworthy.  Where  there 
were  soldiers,  arms  and  clothes  were  lacking ;  stores 
rotted  in  one  place  whilst  troops  starved  in  another; 
no  money  could  be  obtained  from  Madrid  except 
for  wasteful  shows  and  the  endowment  of  monas- 
teries. Plague  and  famine  were  devastating  the 
land,  and  Ijisbon  itself  was  a  wilderness,  for  nearly 
the  whole  population  had  died  or  fled. 

But  still,  as  Spaniards  themselves  did  not  under- 
stand how  bad  things  were  with  them,  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  that  Englishmen,  whom  they 
threatened,  could  discern  the  true  state  of  affairs  ; 
and  the  result  of  these  alarmist  reports,  coming  as 
they  did  when  the  Dutch  fleet  was  far  away,  the  Chan- 
nel undefended,  the  English  army  in  Ireland,  and 
the  English  navy  in  dock,  was  that  an  uncontrol- 
lable gust  of  panic  swept  over  the  country.  John 
Chamberlain  gives  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the  state 
of  affairs  (August  i,  1599,  State  Papers,  Domestic): 
"Upon  Avhat  ground  or  good  intelligence  I  know 
not,  but  we  are  all  here  in  a  hurle,  as  though  the 
enemie  were  at  our  doors.  The  Queene's  shippes 
are  all  making  ready,  and  this  towne  (London)  is 
commanded  to  furnish  out  16  of  theire  best  shippes 
to  defend  the  river,  and  10,000  men;  whereof 
6000  to  be  trained  presently,  and  every  man  els 
to  have  his  arms  ready.  Letters  are  likewise  going 
out  to   the   bishops   and   their    clergy,   and   all   the 


374  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

noblemen  and  gentlemen  hereabout,  to  prepare 
horses  and  all  other  furniture,  as  if  the  enemie 
were  expected  within  fifteen  days."  A  camp  was 
to  be  held  at  Tilbury,  as  it  was  at  the  time  of  the 
Armada,  the  Lord  Admiral  Howard  (Earl  of  Not- 
tingham) was  appointed  commander-in-chief,  and 
his  kinsman,  Lord  Thomas,  commander  of  the 
navy ;  whilst  Sir  Francis  Vere,  who  had  charge  of 
the  English  contingent  in  Holland,  was  to  be  re- 
called with  his  2000  best  men.  "All  this  noise," 
continues  Chamberlain,  "riseth  upon  report  that 
the  Adelantado  hath  an  Armada  redy  at  Groine 
(Corunna),  of  30  gallies  and  70  shippes,  some  say 
more."  On  the  9th  August  the  same  letter- writer 
describes  the  progress  of  the  scare.  "  The  newes 
increasing  daily  of  the  Spaniards  coming,  and  ad- 
vertisements concurring  from  all  parts  of  their 
dessigne  for  London  (whereof  the  Adelantado  him- 
self gave  out  proud  speaches),  and  the  day  of 
their  departure  from  the  Groyne  being  saide  to  be 
appointed,  at  the  uttermost,  as  Sonday  last,  order  was 
geven  for  a  campe  to  be  raised."  All  the  generals 
are  named ;  and  each  county  had  to  muster  its 
men  under  the  local  gentry  ready  to  march.  Twelve 
of  the  Queen's  ships  were  hastily  put  into  com- 
mission under  Lord  Thomas  Howard  and  Ralegh ; 
and  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  undertook  the  defence 
of  the  river  Thames  by  means  of  a  bridge  (of  pon- 
toons), "after  an  apish  imitation  of  that  of  Antwerp," 
a  little  above  Gravesend.  That,  however,  after 
much  expense  and  trouble,  had  to  be  abandoned, 
as  the  Thames  was  found  to  be  a  different  sort 
of  river  from  the  Scheldt ;  and  the  bridge  scheme 


ENGLISH    WAR    PREPARATIONS      375 

was   substituted  by   one    for    sinking   hulks  in  the 
fairway. 

"  Upon  Monday  toward  evening  came  newcs  (yet 
false)  that  the  Spaniards  were  landed  in  the  He 
of  Wight,  which  bred  such  a  feare  and  consterna- 
tion in  this  towne,  as  I  wold  litle  have  looked  for ; 
with  such  a  crie  of  women,  chaining  of  streets,  and 
shutting  of  the  gates  ;  as  though  the  enemie  had 
been  at  Blackwall.  I  am  sorry  and  ashamed,  that 
this  weakness  and  nakedness  of  ours,  on  all  sides, 
shold  show  itself  so  apparently,  as  to  be  carried  far 
and  neere,  to  our  disgrace,  both  with  friend  and 
foe."  All  the  nobility  had  raised  troops  of  horse ; 
and  it  is  noticeable  that  the  names  given  as  having 
done  so  most  liberally  are  mainly  those  opposed 
to  Essex  and  the  Puritans.  The  Lord  Admiral,  for 
instance,  had  raised  a  hundred  horse  ;  Shrewsbury, 
Worcester,  Northumberland,  and  Cecil  the  same  ;  and 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke  two  hundred.  As  Chamber- 
lain himself  saw,  there  was  something  more  be- 
hind this  than  mere  patriotism.  The  vain  babble 
in  Spain  about  a  great  "  personage  having  been 
gained,"  was  interpreted  by  Essex's  opponents  as 
referring  to  him ;  and  this  scare  was  no  doubt  made 
the  most  of  by  Cecil,  as  a  counter-demonstration  to 
the  veiled  threats  of  Essex,  about  the  discontent  of 
his  army  at  the  treatment  meted  out  to  him. 

"But  now,"  writes  Chamberlain,  "after  all  this 
noise  and  blustering,  methinks  the  weather  begins 
to  cleere  somewhat,  for  our  preparations  begin  to 
slacke  and  not  go  on  so  hedlong  as  they  did,  and 
there  may  be  hope  that  all  should  be  well."  On  the 
23rd  August  he  reports  that  the  alarm  is  now  "  blown 


376  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

over,"  and  says  that  even  with  so  short  a  warning 
England  has  made  a  good  show  of  defence.  "Onr 
navie  has  gone  to  sea  prettilie  strong  and  in  goode 
plight  for  so  short  a  warning,  conteinning  twenty- 
three  shippes  and  pinnasses  of  the  Quene's,  twelve 
good  marchant  shippes  provided  by  the  citie  and  six 
more  hired  by  her  Majestie,  with  fourteen  hoys  well- 
furnished  with  ordnance  and  made  for  fight.  Our 
land-forces  are  dayly  discharged,  litle  by  litle,  and 
this  day  I  thincke  will  be  quite  dissolved.  .  .  .  On 
Friday  there  mustered  1600  horse  by  St.  James',  and 
the  next  day  400  for  the  clergie  in  St.  George's 
Field,  yet  none  of  the  noblemen  have  shewed  their 
troupes.  ...  If  occasion  had  been  to  draw  forces 
to  a  head  or  into  campe,  it  is  thought  the  first  pro- 
portion wold  have  risen  to  27,000  foot  and  3000 
horse.  I  assure  you  they  were  very  well  provided 
for  the  most  part  of  horse  armour  and  apparel,  and 
wanted  not  their  setting  forth  with  feathers,  skarfes, 
and  other  light  ware.  The  Lord  General  (the  Earl 
of  Nottingham)  with  all  the  great  otficers  of  the  field 
came  in  great  bravery  to  Powles  Cross  on  Sunday 
sevennight  when  the  alarme  was  at  the  hottest  and 
dined  with  my  Lord  Mayor.  The  vulgar  sort  can- 
not be  persuaded  but  that  there  was  some  great 
misterie  in  the  assembling  of  these  forces,  and 
because  they  cannot  finde  the  reason  of  it,  make 
many  wilde  conjectures  and  cast  beyond  the  moone: 
as  sometimes  that  the  Quene  was  dangerously  sicke; 
otherwhile  it  ivas  to  shoiv  to  some  that  are  absent 
that  others  can  he  folloived  as  icell  as  they,  and  that 
if  occasion  he,  militarie  services  can  he  as  well  and  as 
redihj  ordered  and  directed  as  if  they  were  present." 


REAL    REASON    OF    THE    MUSTERS     377 

"  And  now,"  continues  Chamberlain,  "  in  the  middest 
of  all  this  hurle  burle  here  is  a  sudden  sound  of 
peace,  and  that  certain  fellows  are  come  from  Brussels 
with  a  commission  from  Spaine."  ^ 

We  shall  probably  be  safe  in  adopting  as  our  own 
the  suggestion  that  the  nobles  of  the  "moderate" 
party  took  advantage  of  the  scare  to  read  to  Essex  a 
much-needed  lesson  that  they  could  appeal  success- 
fully to  force  as  well  as  he  :  but  whilst  the  prompt 
and  efficient  measures  of  defence  adopted  proved 
that  Essex,  idolised  as  he  was  in  London,  was  very 
far  from  being  the  potential  dictator  he  imagined 
himself,  it  showed  also  to  foe  as  well  as  friend  that 
the  organisation,  the  resources,  and  the  energy  of 
England  were  infinitely  superior  at  an  emergency  to 
those  of  Spain.  We  have  glanced  at  the  several 
ostentatious  and  boasting  attempts  that  had  been 
made  since  the  Armada  to  despatch  a  powerful  fleet 
to  coerce  England.  We  have  heard  the  exalted  brag- 
ging of  the  Adelantado  and  the  haughty  assurances  of 
invincibility  proclaimed  by  high  ecclesiastics  and  re- 
sponsible statesmen;  but  on  each  occasion  humiliation 
and  disaster  had  been  the  outcome  of  prodigious  effort, 
and  it  is  abundantly  evident  that  no  fleet  complete 
and  efficient  with  a  formidable  military  force  could  be 
sent  out  promptly  from  Spanish  ports  because  of  the 
administrative  dry-rot  which  the  centralising  policy 
of  Philip  II.  had  brought  upon  the  country. 

What  had  happened  before  was  repeated  in  1599. 
Throughout  the  spring  the  most  abject  fear  of  an 
attack  on  the  coast  and  shipping  by  an  English  fleet 
was  prevalent  in  Spain,  and  false  reports  were  fre- 

'  Chamberlain  to  Carleton,  Stat^i  Paper?,  Uomestic,  August  9,  1 599. 


378  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

quent  of  this  or  the  other  important  place  having 
been  sacked.  The  new  King  was  away  on  his 
wasteful  journey  in  the  east  of  Spain,  and  cool- 
headed  observers  were  confident  that,  no  matter 
what  efiforts  were  made,  the  country  could  not  even 
defend  herself,  much  less  attack,  that  year.^  But,  as 
we  have  seen,  when  Essex  and  most  of  the  English 
forces  were  in  Ireland  and  the  Dutch  fleet  had 
relieved  Spain  of  its  threatening  presence,  the  old 
vainglorious  spirit  prevailed  again,  and  the  talk  of  a 
great  fleet  to  attack  England  or  Ireland  under  the 
Adelantado  was  believed  both  by  friend  and  foe. 
And  yet,  after  three  months  of  labour  and  boasting, 
the  Adelantado's  fleet,  badly  provided,  ill  armed,  and 
poorly  manned,  could  only  endeavour  fruitlessly  to 
defend  the  Canaries  from  the  depredations  of  the 
Dutch ;  and  by  the  time  the  unfortunate  Adelantado 
reached  the  Azores  (September  30),  his  fleet  was 
crippled  by  bad  weather  and  twenty-two  out  of  his 

^  Robert  Bruce,  who  was  a  Spanish  agent  but  sold  to  the  English, 
reported  to  Colville  on  his  way  through  France  from  Spain  (July  1599), 
"  Notwithstanding  all  their  preparations  and  fleeing  bruittis,  he  doth 
assure  that  this  year  the  Spanyard  shall  be  habill  to  do  no  thing  in 
theis  parts  :  his  resons  being  the  fearful!  plage  which  is  aniang  thame  ; 
the  year  being  far  spent,  and  neither  the  galees  as  yet  cum  to  places 
appointed  nor  a  bastant  (i.e.  sufficient)  army  listed."  Bruce  proceeds  to 
report  what  we  already  know,  that  Lerma  was  strongly  ojjposed  to  any 
attempt  at  the  invasion  or  coercion  of  England  being  made  during  the 
Queen's  life,  whilst  the  Adelantado  was  violently  in  favour  of  an 
immediate  conquest.  Philip  was  understood  to  side  with  Lerma,  as  he 
did  in  all  things  (Colville  Letters,  Bannantyne  Club). 

In  the  same  month  (July  6,  1599)  Thomas  Phellips,  the  astute  spy- 
master,  now  in  disgrace,  wrote  a  very  clever  letter  to  the  same  etfect 
(State  Papers,  Domestic).  Philip  III.,  he  says,  is  spirited  and  eager,  but 
he  has  no  money  to  spend  upon  aggression  at  present.  The  Ailelantado 
and  Fuentes  are  "  Hotspurs,"  but  nothing  will  be  done  until  the  King 
confers  with  the  Archduke,  who,  the  writer  knows  for  certain,  desires 
peace. 


THE    ADELANTADO    h'AILS   AGAIN     379 

eighty-five  ships  had  foundered  at  sea/  He  had 
failed  to  meet  the  India  fleet ;  he  had  failed  to  find 
the  Dutch,  and  the  four  millions  of  gold  ducats, 
wrung  out  of  miserable  Spain  to  pay  for  his  fleet, 
were  worse  than  wasted.  As  for  help  to  the  Irish 
Catholics,  two  small  pinnaces  with  arms  and  money 
were  sent  to  Loch  Foyle,  over  the  division  of  which 
Tyrone  and  O'Donnell  quarrelled,  but  the  oft-pro- 
mised army  of  conquest  came  not,  and  for  another 
year  at  least  the  Protestants  of  England  knew  that 
they  were  safe  from  Spanish  attack. 

In  the  meanwhile  James  of  Scotland  was  striving 
incessantly  to  gain  the  sympathy  of  Catholics  every- 
where. Now  that  he  had  humbled  the  Presbyterian 
clergy,  whom  he  had  hated  heartily,  and  not  without 
reason,  for  their  arrogance  and  the  republicanism 
that  underlay  their  Church  discipline,  he  carried  his 
ostentatious  approaches  to  Rome  to  an  extent  which 
appears  almost  imprudent.  His  eager  reconciliation 
with  the  Catholic  lords,  his  reappointment  of  Arch- 
bishop Beaton  as  his  ambassador  in  France,  and  the 
violent  anti-Puritan  opinions  he  expressed  in  his 
book  '*  Basilicon  Doron,"  were  enough,  almost,  to 
drive  his  Presbyterian  subjects  and  the  Puritans  of 
England  to  despair.  But  apparently  James  weighed 
the  chances  well.  If  he  could  win  over  the  English 
Episcopalians  and  moderate  Catholics,  who  still 
formed  the  great  bulk  of  the  nation,  he  could 
afford  to  risk  any  displeasure,  short  of  revolution, 
from  his  own  Presbyterians  and  the  English  Puri- 
tans. Doubtless  Essex  and  he  quite  understood 
each    other,    and    had    agreed  to    a   similar  line  of 

'  Sorzano  to  the  Doge,  October  31,  1599  (Venetian  Calendar). 


38o  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

action,  by  which  they  might  gain  partisans  from  the 
other  side,  whilst  holding  their  own  adherents  in 
hand  by  personal,  party,  and  national  sympathies. 

James,  at  all  events,  was  determined  to  be  pre- 
pared betimes,  let  who  would  be  unready.  In 
addition  to  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  who  was 
authorised  to  tell  every  one  that  his  master  was  really 
a  Catholic,  Lord  Hume  was  sent  to  Paris  and  to 
Italy  to  set  forth  James's  claims  to  the  English 
crown,  and  to  beg  for  recognition  (May  1599).  In 
response  to  the  persistent  touting  of  Scottish  agents, 
the  Pope  also  sent  an  embassy,  consisting  of  the 
visionary  young  poet  Constable  (whom  we  last  heard 
of  as  desirous  of  converting  Elizabeth  herself)  and 
James  Wood  of  Bonnington,  to  offer  James  100,000 
crowns  for  preliminary  expenses,  and  2,000,000  more 
to  maintain  war  with  England,  if  he  would  decree 
liberty  of  conscience  in  his  realm  and  declare  war. 
The  Pope  also  assured  him  the  concurrence  of  all 
Catholic  princes,  and  a  farther  contribution  of 
^20,000  from  the  English  Catholics  with  20,000 
English  soldiers,  immediately  after  war  was  com- 
menced. This  was  a  tempting  offer.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Glasgow  fervently  exhorted  James  to 
accept  it,  or,  he  said,  "  the  Pope  would  know  him 
no  more,  but  would  help  some  other  competitor."  ^ 
James  was  surrounded  by  Catholic  influences. 
Jesuits,  Capuchins,  and  Cordeliers  were  almost 
ostentatiously  summoned  to  his  court :  the  Papist 
Seatons,  two  of  whom,  at  least,  were  Spanish 
officers,  were  his  close  friends ;  and,  above  all, 
Henry  of  France  had   sent  as   special  ambassador 

'  Colville's  Advertisements,  August  1 8,  1 599. 


JAMES   COURTS   THE   CATHOLICS     381 

to  him  at  the  same  time,  that  Maximilian  de  l^etune, 
who  was  afterwards  famous  as  the  Due  de  Sully. 
His  ostensible  errand  was  to  renew  the  ancient 
alliance  between  France  and  Scotland  ;  but  we  are 
told  by  one  who  was  present:'  "Monsieur  de 
Betune,  thoch  he  pretend  no  errand  bot  from  the 
King  his  master,  to  veseit  the  King  of  Scotland  for 
entertaining  the  auld  amitie  bctuix  the  two  nations, 
yit  he  is  as  ernist  to  persuade  the  King  to  embrace 
the  Pope's  offres  as  Boniton  or  Constable  is,  and  his 
persuasion  shall  prove  of  no  small  consequence." 
James  could  hardly  resist  such  influences  as  these,  and 
he  sent  Constable  back  to  Rome  (via  Denmark)  with 
an  acceptance  of  the  Pope's  pregnant  oifer ;  though 
whether  he,  James,  ever  intended  to  fulfil  his  part  of 
the  bargain  is  more  than  doubtful.  His  object  was 
probably  not  war,  but  simply  to  frighten  Elizabeth 
into  acknowledging  him  as  her  heir.  All  this  under- 
hand dealing  of  James,  however,  was  duly  conveyed 
to  Cecil  by  his  agents  (August  1599),  and  doubtless 
was  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  sudden  and  formid- 
able warlike  preparations  in  England  already  referred 
to  as  having  been  made  in  that  month.  Elizabeth 
was  highly  indignant  with  Henry  IV.  for  his  dally- 
ing with  James's  intrigues,  and  demanded  Betune's 
immediate  recall.  The  French  king  had  every  reason 
for  preferring  the  succession  of  James  to  that  of  a 
Spanish  nominee,  but  he  could  not  afford  to  quarrel 
with  Elizabeth,  so  Betune  was  instructed  to  return 
through  London,  in  order  to  assure  the  Queen  of  the 
harmlessness  of  his  mission  :  but,  withal,  he  failed 
to  conciliate  her,  and  the  peace  negotiations  with  the 

'  Robert  Colville  of  Cleish,  the  nephew  of  John  Colville. 


382  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Archduke's  agent  were  now  actively  pursued  by 
Cecil  as  a  counterbalance  to  James's  friendship  with 
the  Pope  and  Catholic  France. 

But  the  King  of  Scots  was  determined  to  leave  no 
element  in  Europe  unconciliated.  Whilst  he  was 
thus  humbling  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  Pontifif  and 
coquetting  with  the  King  of  France ;  whilst  he  was 
surrounding  himself  with  Scottish  Catholics,  promis- 
ing toleration,  conciliating  English  moderates  by  his 
leanings  to  the  Episcopacy,  and  holding  the  Eng- 
lish Puritans  by  means  of  Essex,  he  was  endeavour- 
ing to  prove  to  the  new  King  of  Spain  that  he  was 
his  most  faithful  servitor.  The  Englishmen  who  had 
advocated  the  domination  of  England  by  Spain  had, 
for  the  most  part,  become  discouraged  by  repeated 
failure.  Their  recommendations  and  prayers  had 
been  disregarded  :  the  old  King  had  died  without 
forcing  his  beloved  daughter  on  the  English  throne, 
and  it  was  felt  that  the  new  King  would  have  other 
objects  of  his  own  to  serve.  Many  of  the  old  refugees 
had  died  or  had  sought  pardon  :  the  Spanish  pensions 
they  had  received  were,  for  the  most  part,  stopped, 
and  destitution  had  thinned  their  ranks,  so  that  now 
Sir  William  Stanley  in  Flanders,  a  few  of  the  Jesuit 
priests,  and  such  old  pensioners  as  Colonel  Semple, 
alone  remained  faithful  to  the  idea  that  had  in- 
spired the  Armada.  Even  Father  Creswell,  disci- 
ple of  Father  Persons  though  he  was,  who  repre- 
sented the  English  Catholics  in  the  Spanish  court, 
saw  that  the  circumstances  were  radically  changed. 
Thomas  Fitzherbert,  who  had  succeeded  Sir  Francis 
Englefield  as  Philip's  English  secretary,  represented 
the  general   opinions  of  his^  class  in  an  able  State 


JAMES'S   EMBASSY   TO   SPAIN,    1599     383 

paper/  reporting  upon  the  King  of  Scots'  embassy 
(Lord  Semple)  to  Spain  to  ask  for  support  of  his 
claims  to  the  Enghsh  crown.  In  the  previous  pages 
of  this  book  we  have  had  occasion  to  see  how  such 
embassies  from  James  had  been  treated  in  the  past. 
and  this  instructive  document  of  November  1599 
marks  tlie  change  that  had  come  not  only  over  the 
spirit  of  the  English  partisans  of  Spain,  but  also  over 
the  whole  situation  in  consequence  of  the  death  of 
Philip  11. 

Fitzherbert  discusses  at  length  the  possibility  of 
James  having  sent  the  embassy  to  Spain,  with  or 
without  Elizabeth's  connivance,  but  with  the  only 
object  of  diverting  the  Spanish  armaments  against 
England,  and  he  decides  finally  that  the  King  of 
Scots  is  acting  in  good  faith  in  asking  for  Spanish 
help  to  become  King  of  England.  This  being  pre- 
mised, Fitzherbert  poses  the  question  whether  it  is 
desirable  or  not  that  Philip  should  give  him  such 
aid.  "  In  my  opinion  it  is  not,  if  it  can  be  avoided  ; 
but  that  his  Majesty  should  make  King  of  England 
a  Catholic  whose  zeal  for  our  holy  faith  is  more  to 
be  depended  upon.  It  is  certain  that  his  Majesty 
(Philip)  has  the  power  to  make  a  king  of  England 
and  to  exclude  the  Scotchman,  if  he  will  deign  to 
take  the  course  which  we  have  so  often  begged  him 
to  adopt  with  regard  to  the  Infanta,  but  always  on 
condition  that  he  does  it  before  the  Queen  dies,  and 
before  the  King  of  Scotland  has  won  over  the  Eng- 
lish Catholics,  as  he  is  now  endeavouring  to  do,  and 
will  in  future    do    more  than   ever,   thanks   to  the 

1  Fitzherbert  to  Lerma,  November  30,  1599  (British  Museum, 
Add.  MSS.  28,420,  Spanish  Calendar). 


384  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

delays  on  this  side,  together  with  his  intrigues  and 
show  of  favour  to  the  Catholics,  whom  he  leads  to 
suppose  that  he  is  in  his  heart  a  Catholic  too.  But 
if  his  Majesty  will  not,  or  cannot,  execute  the  under- 
taking during  the  life  of  the  Queen,  I  warn  your 
Lordship  that  after  her  death  will  be  too  late,  as  the 
King  of  Scotland  will  attain  his  object  before  his 
Majesty  has  time  to  gather  his  forces  and  prevent 
it.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  most  of  the  Eng- 
lish nobles  who  do  not  pretend  to  the  crown  them- 
selves, and  the  claimants  who  have  no  means  of 
enforcing  their  claims,  will  recognise  the  King  of 
Scotland  more  readily  than  any  of  the  competitors 
who  are  their  equals  .  .  .  With  regard  to  the  Catho- 
lics, as  it  is  certain  that  none  of  the  other  claimants 
(who  are  all  malignant  heretics),  will  grant  them  such 
favourable  conditions  as  the  King  of  Scotland,  who 
is  moderate  and  now  professes  to  be  a  Catholic,  they 
will  certainly  join  his  party  as  soon  as  he  enters  Eng- 
land. Seeing  the  strength  of  his  claims,  the  forces 
he  has  ready,  his  facility  for  entering  the  country,  the 
support  of  Denmark,  and  even  of  the  English  them- 
selves, he  will  not  only  be  stronger  than  any  other 
claimant,  but  will  carry  through  his  design  before 
his  Majesty's  forces  can  arrive  there.  ...  If,  there- 
fore, his  Majesty  cannot,  or  will  not,  attack  Eng- 
land during  the  life  of  the  Queen,  I  see  no  way 
of  stopping  the  King  of  Scotland  from  becoming 
monarch  of  both  realms ;  and  I  submit  to  your 
Lordship  whether  it  would  not  be  advisable  for  his 
Majesty  to  take  the  present  opportunity  of  seeing 
if  the  King  of  Scotland  will  consent  to  be  a  Catholic. 
If  he  consent  thereto,  he  might  be  aided  to  declare 


JAMES'S   EMBASSY   TO   SPAIN         385 

war  against  the  Queen  of  England,  on  his  furnishing 
sufficient  security  to  fulfil  his  engagements  towards 
his  Majesty,  and  to  remain  perpetually  the  ally  and 
friend  of  the  Spanish  crown,  to  which,  moreover,  he 
will  be  bound  by  the  ties  of  gratitude,  and  by  the 
fact  that  he  is  Catholic  King  of  England  and  Scot- 
land, In  this  case,  the  cause  of  the  alienation  of 
England  from  the  old  alliance  with  Spain,  I  mean 
heresy,  will  have  disappeared  ;  whilst,  at  the  same 
time,  the  reason  for  the  close  friendship  between 
Scotland  and  France  (that  is  to  say,  the  constant 
quarrels  between  England  and  Scotland)  will  also 
be  non-existent,  and  it  will  behove  the  King  of 
England  and  Scotland,  whoever  he  may  be,  to 
renew  the  old  connection  with  Spain  and  the  house 
of  Burgundy.  ...  If  aid  were  given  to  the  King 
of  Scots  against  the  Queen  of  England,  it  would  be 
effectual  in  frustrating  the  designs  of  the  King  of 
France  against  Spain  and  keep  them  fully  occu- 
pied, without  breaking  the  peace  which  his  Majesty 
(Philip)  has  made  with  him." 

This,  it  will  be  perceived,  is  a  counsel  of  despair, 
which  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  men  in 
Fitzherbert's  position  to  have  given  to  Philip  II. 
The  recognition  and  promotion  of  James's  designs 
on  the  crown  of  England,  on  his  mere  profession  of 
Catholicism,  would  have  represented  a  complete 
triumph  for  the  "  ])oliticians  "  throughout  Europe 
who  had  been  w'orking  against  Spain  for  that  very 
end  for  fourteen  years.  It  would  have  meant  an 
abandonment  of  the  dead  Philip's  and  his  father's 
life-dreams  of  the  supremacy  of  Spanish  Catholicism 
in  the  political  interests  of  their  house ;  and  though 

2  B 


386  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Spain  had  fallen  low,  the  ambitions  of  her  rulers 
had  survived  their  potency,  material,  moral,  and 
mental.  Spain  was  effete,  but  she  was  still  tradi- 
tionally powerful,  and  her  pretensions  matched  her 
traditions  rather  than  her  circumstances.  So  com- 
plete a  surrender  as  that  suggested  by  Fitzherbert 
was,  therefore,  not  yet  probable,  and  this  seems  to 
have  occurred  to  the  writer  himself,  for  he  hastens 
to  keep  up  the  hollow  old  pretence  that  it  only 
depended  upon  the  mere  word  of  Philip  to  place  the 
Infanta  on  the  throne  of  England. 

"  If,  on  the  other  hand,"  he  says,  "  his  Majesty 
does  not  wish  to  aid  the  King  of  Scots  to  become 
King  of  England,  but  intends  to  undertake  the 
enterprise  in  favour  of  the  Infanta  with  the  ne- 
cessary speed  (which  we,  the  English  Catholics, 
earnestly  desire  and  petition  him  to  do),  I  still 
think  that  great  advantage  may  be  derived  from 
these  negotiations  with  the  Scots,  which  can  be 
continued  or  broken  off  as  occasion  may  require, 
and  will  serve  to  conceal  his  Majesty's  other  objects. 
These  communications  with  the  Scots,  moreover, 
will  arouse  the  suspicion  of  the  Queen  of  England 
against  the  King  of  Scotland,  and  she  will  not 
trust  him  to  help  her  when  his  Majesty  (Philip) 
attacks  England ;  she  may  perhaps  in  the  mean- 
while try  to  disturb  Scotland  .  .  .  the  effect  of  which 
might  be  to  upset  both  countries  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  prevent  the  Queen  from  injuring  Spain,  as  she 
usually  does.  His  Majesty  will  thus  fish  in  troubled 
waters,  to  his  own  benefit  and  her  disadvantage.  In 
any  case,  the  least  benefit  that  will  follow  these 
negotiations  is,  that  the  King  of  Scots  will  declare 


JAMES'S    EMBASSY   TO    SPAIN         387 

himself  a  Catholic,  if  in  his  heart  he  be  one  (which 
will  be  no  small  service  to  God  and  honour  to 
his  Majesty),  or  else  we  shall  strip  the  mask  with 
which  he  seeks  to  deceive  the  Pope  and  others,  and 
shall  thus  alienate  from  him  the  English  Catholics. 
Finally,  if  his  Majesty  desires  peace  with  the  Queen 
of  England,  it  may  be  assumed  that,  in  the  present 
state  of  Irish  affairs,  she  will  be  so  apprehensive  of 
the  result  of  these  negotiations,  and  the  evil  that 
may  reach  her  through  her  backdoor  (as  she  calls 
Scotland),  as  to  agree  the  more  readily  to  some  fair 
settlement." 

Fitzherbert  finally  concludes  that,  in  any  case, 
the  Scottish  envoy  should  be  publicly  honoured  in 
Madrid,  and  that  a  Spanish  embassy  should  be  sent 
in  return  to  Scotland,  "  with  a  little  ready  money 
and  moderate  promises  of  pensions  to  win  over 
Scottish  Catholics,"  who  may  usefully  serve  Spanish 
interests,  whatever  these  may  be  ;  and  that,  above 
all,  an  effort  should  be  made  to  persuade  James  to 
pardon  and  restore  Bothwell,  then  a  refugee  in 
Flanders,  existing  on  Philip's  bounty.  "  He  is  one 
of  the  principal  persons  in  Scotland,  and  a  near 
relative  of  the  King.  He  has  a  large  party  who 
follow  him  in  everything,  as  is  the  custom  of  the 
country,  and  he  and  his  adherents  alone  may  be 
instrumental  in  effecting  what  I  have  said  {i.e. 
rising  against  James  if  he  broke  his  promise  to  the 
Catholics).  He  is  naturally  a  turbulent  man  and 
greatly   incensed    against    the    King.^     Philip    and 

'  Francis  Stuart,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  Lord  Admiral  of  Scotland,  was 
the  natural  grandson  of  James  V.  He  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  seize  James  at  Falkland  in  1 592,  and  had  to  fly  the  country.     He 


388  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

his  Council  were,  for  the  reasons  I  have  stated,  not 
ready  to  accept  Fitzherbert's  first  suggestion  of 
helping  James  to  the  English  crown,  but  they 
were  willing  to  sow  distrust  between  Elizabeth  and 
the  King  of  .Scots  by  appearing  to  patronise  the 
latter. 

So  James's  envoy,  Lord  Semple,  was  made  much 
of,  and  sent  away  loaded  with  gold  chains  for  him- 
self and  fine  messages  for  his  master,  whilst  other 
emissaries  from  Spanish  Flanders  flattered  James 
in  the  conviction  that  even  Spain  had  been  caught 
in  his  Catholic  lure,  and  that  the  only  remaining 
Catholic  interest  that  he  had  to  fear  Avas  now  on 
his  side.^      All  the  cards  then  seemed  to  be  in  his 


returned  in  the  next  year,  and  succeeded  in  his  attempt,  forcing  James 
to  dismiss  his  Chancellor  Maitland,  whom  he  considered  too  Catholic. 
By  a  counter-movement  Bothwell  was  forced  to  fly  to  England  and 
WHS  sheltered  by  Elizabeth,  as  up  to  that  time  he  had  been  an  ultra- 
Protestant.  When,  in  order  to  revenge  himself,  he  entered  into  a 
league  with  the  Scottish  Catholic  Lords,  he  found  it  necessary  to 
escape  to  Spanish  Flanders.  In  1596  he  sought  reconciliation  with 
Elizabeth,  as  he  was  destitute  in  Paris,  ofi"ering  to  become  a  spy  in  her 
interest  upon  Spain,  France,  or  the  Scottish  Catholics  (Dan vers  to 
Cecil,  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  vi.,  June  28).  He  made  other  desperate 
efforts  to  recover  the  favour  of  Elizabeth  in  1598  through  John 
Colville,  whose  opinion  of  his  character  is  curious  :  "  Albeit  in  one 
of  my  former  letters  I  did  write  as  I  thought  of  Bothwell,  being  moved 
thereto  by  his  terrible  oaths  and  protestations,  yet  finding  him  still  as 
light  as  a  feather  and  more  fraudf ull  nor  a  fox,  I  am  forced  to  alter  my 
opinion,  car  en  son  fait  il  n'y'a  ny  ryme  ny  raison"  (Hatfield  Papers, 
vol.  viii.  ;  see  also  Colville's  Letters  and  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.). 
It  may  be  added  that  the  Spanish  envoy  was  not  sent  to  Scotland  as 
suggested  by  Fitzherbert,  but  a  man  was  sent  from  Flanders  in  the 
name  of  the  Archduke. 

1  Edward  Bruce,  writing  to  Lord  Henry  Howard  (Hatfield  Papers, 
uncalendared,  cxxxv.  fol.  81),  says  :  "My  Lord  Semple  at  his  return 
from  Spaine  did  acquent  the  King  that  thair  was  ane  propos  there  to 
send  ane  ambassadour  to  this  countrie,  and  that  it  was  contentously 
much  in  dispute  in  thair  Counsell  pro  et  contra.  ...  So  tossing  these 


JAMES   GROWS   BOLDER  389 

hand,  and  he  could  afford  to  assume  a  tone  towards 
Elizabeth  that  a  few  years  before  he  would  not 
have  dared  to  use.  He  suggested  to  his  principal 
nobles  that  they  should  form  a  "  Band,"  ostensibly 
for  the  protection  of  his  person,  but  really  to  enforce 
his  claims  to  the  English  crown  ;  ^  and  whilst  he  was 
dabbling  in  conspiracy  with  Essex  and  Montjoy — as 
will  presently  be  related — for  the  traitorous  use  of 
English  troops,  he  demanded  of  the  Scottish  Parlia- 
ment a  liberal  subsidy  with  the  same  object,  for 
"  he  was  not  certain  how  soon  he  should  have  to 
use  arms  ;  but  whenever  it  should  be,  he  knew  his 
right,  and  would  venture  crown  and  all  for  it."  ^ 

Thus,  at  the  opening  of  the  year  1600,  the  clouds 
lowered  darkly  over  England  and  Protestantism. 
Essex,  a  prisoner,  was  raging  and  plotting,  mad 
with  spite  and  disappointment,  ready  to  sacrifice 
loyalty,  country,  faith — everything,  for  rehabilita- 
tion and  revenge  :  Tyrone,  rejoicing  in  his  hollow 
truce,  was  busy  preparing  for  the  great  struggle, 
whilst  his  zealous  agents  in  vSpain  were  whispering 
to  Philip's  Ministers  that  this  indeed  was  the 
opportunity  for  repairing  all  past  failures,  and  for 
finally  making  England   Catholic  through  Ireland. 

doubts  to  and  fro  they  break  up  tliair  Counsell  without  any  resolution. 
.  .  .  Since  this  time  the  King  protests  that  naither  nor  indirectly  he 
never  heard  motion  or  speach  of  any  such  messenger  to  come  unto 
him."  This  was  true,  but  a  Flemish  envoy  was  sent  by  the  Archduke 
and  his  wife. 

^  In  a  letter  from  Cecil  to  his  agent  in  Scotland,  Nicholson  (April 
1600),  he  quotes  James  as  expressing  himself  thus  in  the  instrument 
forming  the  new  "  Band  "  :  "  Divers  persons  upon  frivolous  and  im- 
pertinent presumptions  would  go  about  to  impugn  his  birthright, 
contrary  to  the  most  ancient  and  approved  laws  of  both  realms" 
(Hatfield  Papers,  uncalendared,  vol.  Ixxviii.). 

2  Nicholson  to  Cecil,  December  15,  1599  (Scottish  State  Papers). 


390  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

James  almost  for  the  only  time  in  his  life  was 
warlike,  with,  as  he  thought,  all  Catholic  Europe 
behind  him,  and  the  English  Puritans  betrayed  by 
their  leader ;  and  the  moderate  Cecil  party  were  face 
to  face  with  the  fact  that  they  had  been  outflanked 
and  outbidden  by  the  King  of  Scots.  The  religion 
of  England,  which  meant  the  fate  of  civilisation, 
was  trembling  in  the  balance.  There  seemed  only 
one  possible  way  by  which  the  Anglican  Church 
might  be  saved  and  civil  war  avoided,  and  that  way 
was  only  possible  for  one  man.  The  man  was  Sir 
Robert  Cecil,  and  the  way,  a  crooked  and  devious 
one,  came  out  straight  in  the  end,  as  will  be  seen  in 
the  following  chapters. 


CHAPTER   XII 

Essex  in  disgrace — His  attempts  at  reconciliation — Small  Spanish  help 
to  the  Irish  rebels — The  mission  of  Mateo  de  Oviedo,  Arclibisliop 
of  Dublin,  and  Martin  de  la  Cerda  to  Ireland — Resolution  in 
Spain  to  aid  Tyrone  actively — Irish  envoys  to  Spain — Helplessness 
of  Philip  and  discouragement  of  Tyrone — Father  Persons'  appeals 
to  Philip  to  take  a  decided  course  on  the  English  succession — 
Discussions  in  the  Council  of  State  on  the  subject — Father  Cres- 
well's  efforts  in  Madrid — The  projects  of  the  Earl  of  Bothwell — 
Essex  and  James.  Abortive  peace  negotiations  with  Spain — Essex's 
rebellio.i  and  execution. 

"What!  did  the  fool  bring  you  too?  Go  back  to 
your  business."  This  was  the  greeting  Hung  by  the 
Queen  to  her  trembling  poet-godson,  Sir  John  Har- 
rington, as  he  entered  her  chamber  to  pay  his 
respects  on  his  return  to  England  with  Essex  ;  one  of 
a  host  of  idle  knights,  ca{)tains,  and  swaggerers,  who 
scorned  to  stay  in  Ireland  longer  than  their  lord. 
And  when  Harrington  knelt  to  his  sovereign,  as 
she  paced  up  and  down  the  room  in  a  fary,  she 
grabbed  his  girdle  and  cried  to  him,  "  By  God's  Son! 
I  am  no  Queen :  that  man  is  above  me.  Who 
gave  him  command  to  come  here  so  soon  ?  I  sent 
him  on  other  business."  Then,  becoming  some- 
what calmer,  she  told  Harrington  to  bring  for  her 
inspection  the  diary  she  knew  he  had  been  keeping 
of  the  Munster  campaign.  It  was  never  meant  for 
her  eyes,  but  her  godson  dared  not  refuse  ;  and  as 
she  read  the  record  she  flared  out  in  anger  again, 
and  swore  her  awful  oath,  "  that  we  were  all  idle 


392  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

knaves,  and  the  Lord  -  Deputy  (Essex)  worse,  for 
wasting  our  time  and  her  commands  in  suchwise 
as  my  journal  doth  write  of."  ^  In  the  meanwhile 
the  object  of  all  this  anger  was  sick  and  sorry  at 
York  House  in  the  custody  of  Lord-Keeper  Egerton. 
Debarred  from  access  to  the  Queen,  and  refused 
permission  even  to  write  to  his  wife,  who  had  just 
given  birth  to  a  daughter,  he  could  only  profess 
abject  submission  in  heart-breaking  appeals  to  the 
sovereign  whose  former  kindness  to  him  had  turned 
to  bitter  resentment. 

The  sternness  of  Elizabeth  and  her  Council 
against  Essex  at  this  juncture  is  less  surprising  to 
us  than  it  was  to  most  of  their  contemporaries.^ 
We  know,  as  they  did  not,  that  the  English 
Government  were  fully  informed  of  the  coquetting 
of  James  with  the  Pope,  the  Catholics,  and  with 
Tyrone,  and  had  more  than  a  suspicion  that  Essex 
had  been  in  treasonable  communication  with  both.^ 

^  Harrington's  Niigcc  Antiquoi. 

2  Cliamberlain's  letters  from  Court  at  the  period  reflect  the  bewilder- 
ment generally  felt  at  the  Queen's  implacability  against  Essex.  Writing 
on  the  22nd  February  1600  to  Carleton  he  says  :  "You  left  us  here 
with  so  fair  weather  and  with  so  confident  an  opinion  that  all  sholde  go 
well  with  my  Lord  of  Essex,  and  that  we  should  soon  see  him  a-cock- 
horse  again,  that  I  know  it  wilbe  strange  news  to  you  to  hear  that  all 
was  but  a  kind  of  dreame  and  a  false  paradise  that  his  friends  had 
fained  to  themselves."  Again  on  the  5  th  March  he  speaks  of  Essex  as 
being  very  ill,  and  "  a  man  quite  out  of  his  mind."  "  The  Bishop  of 
Worcester  preached  at  Court  on  Sonday  last,  made  many  proffers 
and  glances  in  his  behalf  as  was  understood  by  the  whole  auditorie 
and  by  the  Queene  herself,  who  presently  calling  him  to  reckoning, 
he  flatly  foreswore  that  he  had  any  such  meaning." 

^  This  idea  was  encouraged  by  Tyrone's  constantly  expressed  par- 
tiality for  Essex,  which  greatly  angered  the  Queen.  Tyrone,  amongst 
other  things,  said  that  he  would  never  draw  the  sword  against  Essex, 
whereupon  the  Queen  wrote  to  Fenton  (November  5,  Irish  State 
Papers)  :  "  That  Tyrone  should  forbear  to  draw  his  sword  against  our 


DISGRACE   OF   ESSEX  393 

They  did  not  yet  know  the  extent  to  wliich  his 
disloyalty  had  reached :  that  was  to  come  out  in 
the  helter-skelter  rush  to  confess  first  and  most 
fully  which  overtook  Essex  and  his  friends  when 
their  plot  had  failed  a  year  later.  Then  it  was  to 
come  out  that  Essex  had  suggested  to  his  father-in- 
law,  Sir  Christopher  Blount,  and  his  friend  the  Earl 
of  Southampton,  whilst  he  was  yet  in  Ireland,  to 
bring  over  4000  of  the  Queen's  troops  to  England 
without  authority,  "with  the  full  purpose  to  right 
himself  by  force  of  such  wrongs  as  he  complained  of 
receiving  here  (in  England)  in  his  absence,"  ^  which, 
says  Blount,  both  he  and  Southampton  opposed. 

Essex  had  many  friends  and  was  greatly  beloved 
by  the  populace.  It  was  hardly  likely  that  his  harsh 
treatment  and  present  suffering  on  what  appeared 
publicly  to  be  inadequate  grounds  should  not  pro- 
voke some  attempt  at  remedy.  The  Queen  was  so 
jealous  of  any  one  having  access  to  him,  that  most 
of  his  relatives  retired  to  the  country,  to  remove 
themselves  from  suspicion,  and  even  "  his  servants 
dared  not  meet  or  make  merry  lest  it  might  be  taken 
ill."  But  still  projects  were  not  wanting  for  his 
rescue.  Old  Sir  Christopher  Blount,  who  had  ad- 
vised him  when  he  leL  Ireland  to  bring  a  sufficient 
number  of  adherents  with  him  to  prevent  his  arrest 
by  force,  was  now  for  seizing  him  out  of  custody 
and  carrying  him  into  Wales,  guarded  by  a  squadron 
of  cavalry ;  but  this  was  too  bold  and  ri:;ky  a  course  ; 

Lieutenant  rather  than  against  us,  we  shall  take  ourselves  imicli 
dishonoured,  ami  neither  value  anything  that  shall  proceed  from  him 
on  such  conditions,  nor  dispose  our  minds  to  be  so  gracious  to  liim 
hereafter." 

'  Confession  of  Sir  C.  Blount,  Hatfield  Papers,  Ixx.xiii. 


394  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

for  the  Queen  was  in  no  humour  to  be  trifled  with, 
and  a  more  secret  but  no  less  dangerous  course  was 
adopted.  A  few  days  after  Essex's  arrival,  Lord  Mont- 
joy,  who  was  deeply  in  love  with  the  Earl's  sister, 
came  to  Essex  House,  where  the  ruined  gambler, 
Earl  of  Southampton,  had  rooms,  and  told  him  that 
even  before  Essex  had  returned  from  Ireland  he  had 
seen  that  his  disgrace  was  impending,  "  and  desiring 
to  save  him,  if  it  mought  bee,  he  (Montjoy)  had  sent 
a  messenger  to  the  King  of  Skottes  to  wish  him  to 
bethincke  himselfe,  and  not  suffer,  if  he  could  hinder 
it,  the  government  of  this  State  to  be  wholly  in  the 
handes  of  his  enemies ;  and  if  hee  (James)  would 
resolve  of  anything  that  was  fitt,  he  should  find  him 
(Montjoy)  forward  to  do  him  right,  as  far  as  he 
mought  with  a  safe  conscience  and  his  duty  reserved 
to  her  Majestie."  ^  James  sent  a  prompt  but  timid 
verbal  answer  to  the  effect  that  "  he  would  think  of 
it,  and  put  himself  in  readiness  to  take  any  good 
occasion."  This,  however,  was  not  sufficient  for 
Montjoy,  who  thereupon  sent  a  bolder  suggestion 
to  him.  He  was  destined,  he  said,  to  go  to  Ireland 
as  Lord-Deputy,  and  when  he  was  there  he  would 
at  convenient  time  declare  himself  and  place  the 
English  army  at  James's  disposal.  With  half  the 
troops  he  would  have,  he  said,  he  might  "  doe  that 
which  was  fitt  in  establishing  such  a  course  as  should 
be  best  for  our  country."  This  proposal  was  backed 
by  a  letter  from  Southampton  to  James  offering  his 
services  on  his  behalf.     After  some  delay,  the  King 

^  Confession  of  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  Hatfield  (uncalentlared), 
Ixxxiv.  (Printed  as  an  Appendix  to  the  Letters  of  Cecil  and  James, 
Camden  Society,) 


TREASON   AT   WORK  395 

of  Scots  signified  that  "  hee  lyked  the  course  well, 
and  would  prepare  himself  for  it ; "  but  it  is  very 
evident  that  James  was  lukewarm.  The  encourage- 
ment and  money  he  was  getting  from  the  Catholic 
Powers  and  his  warlike  talk  were  intended  by  him 
as  a  means  of  forcing  Elizabeth  to  acknowledge  his 
heirship ;  he  had  no  real  intention  of  precipitating 
events  by  commencing  war,  and  certainly  not  to 
participate  in  a  treasonable  rising  in  England,  which 
must  necessarily  turn  a  large  number  of  his  future 
subjects  against  him  for  the  sole  benefit  of  Essex. 
The  friends  of  the  latter  gradually  understood  this, 
and  dropped  James  for  the  present  out  of  their 
plans.  Sir  Charles  Danvers  thought  that  the  Eng- 
lish army  in  Ireland  under  Montjoy  would  be  suffi- 
cient of  itself  to  force  Essex  upon  the  Queen  and 
destroy  the  Cecil  party.  Essex  himself,  now  a 
prisoner  in  his  own  house,^  approved  of  this  idea, 
and  Southampton  was  sent  to  Ireland  to  propose 
the  matter  to  Montjoy.  But  responsibility  had 
sobered  the  new  Viceroy,  and  "hee  utterly  rejected 
it  as  a  thinge  which  hee  could  no  way  thinke  honest, 
and  dissuaded  me  (Southampton)  from  thinking  any 
more  of  such  courses." 

All  this,  although  perhaps  suspected  by  Cecil, 
was  unknown  to  the  Queen  at  the  time,  and  in  pity 
for  her  late  favourite's  despairing  state  and  dangerous 
illness,  on  more  than  one  occasion  she  seemed  in- 
clined to  relent  towards  him.  Once,  indeed,  when  a 
consultation  of  physicians  had  pronounced  him  to 
be  dying  she  had  sent  him  a  message  of  comfort, 

1  He  had  been  transferred  thither  from  York  House  on  the  19th 
March  1600. 


396  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

saying,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  that  if  it  were  con- 
sistent with  her  honour  she  would  visit  him.  But 
the  mood  soon  changed.  She  wished  to  correct,  not 
to  destroy,  she  told  Francis  Bacon ;  but  it  needed 
all  the  reasoning  of  the  jurists  and  the  abject  prayers 
of  the  prisoner  to  dissuade  her  from  submitting 
Essex  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Star  Chamber. 
At  length  a  commission  of  the  Privy  Council  was 
appointed  to  inquire  into  his  conduct  and  to  hear 
his  defence,  with  power  not  to  sentence,  but  to  cen- 
sure. As  usual,  the  Crown  lawyers,  amongst  whom, 
to  his  eternal  shame,  was  Francis  Bacon,  were  viru- 
lent and  grossly  unfair  in  their  attacks  upon  the 
accused,  whilst  Essex,  pathetically  eloquent,  broken 
in  health  and  heart,  drew  tears  from  eyes  more 
accustomed  to  frowns  by  his  pleading ;  the  result 
of  the  inquiry  being  the  suspension  of  the  Earl  from 
all  his  offices,  and  his  remaining  under  arrest  during 
the  Queen's  pleasure.^  Cecil  through  all  this  was 
prudently  moderate  ;  it  was  clear  that  Essex's  temper 
would  ruin  him  without  much  aid  from  his  oppo- 
nents, and  though  Ralegh  vindictively  urged  seve- 
rity," the  Earl  was  liberated  at  the  end  of  August, 

1  The  trial  or  inquiry  took  place  early  in  June.  Bacon's  account  of 
the  proceedings  will  be  found  in  his  works  (Montagu). 

2  This  famous  letter  from  Ralegh  to  Cecil,  which  has  so  often  been 
misinterpreted  to  mean  the  writer's  desire  for  Essex's  execution  after 
his  rising,  bears  no  date  ;  but  the  context  shows  it  to  have  been  written 
at  the  period  now  mentioned.  "  If  yow  take  it  for  a  good  councell  to 
relent  towards  this  tirant,  yow  will  repent  it  when  it  shal  be  too  late. 
His  mallice  is  fixt,  and  will  not  evaporate  towards  any  your  mild 
courses.  For  he  will  ascribe  the  alteration  to  her  Majestie's  pusillani- 
mitye,  and  not  to  your  good  nature,  knowing  that  yoM'  worke  but 
uppon  her  humour,  and  not  out  of  any  love  towards  him.  The  less 
yow  make  hyme  the  less  he  shalbe  able  to  harme  yow  and  yours. .  If 
her  Majestie's  favour  fail  hyme,  he  will  again  decline  to  a  common 


IRELAND   STILL   IN    REVOLT         397 

but  was  still  forbidden  to  appear  at  court.  lie 
professed  a  desire  to  retire  from  public  life  and  live 
away  from  London  ;  but  it  is  highly  probable  that 
at  this  juncture  he  made  his  way  unbidden  into  the 
Queen's  presence  at  Greenwich,  trusting  to  his  old 
fascination  to  regain  her  love/  If  so,  he  was  de- 
ceived, for  she  thrust  him  from  her  presence  with 
scorn  and  resentment,  and  thenceforward  his  heart 
had  no  room  for  other  feeling  but  hatred  for  her  and 
those  who  he  thought  had  stolen  her  love  from  him. 
All  his  hope  of  regaining  his  mistress's  favour  was 
abandoned,  and  "  his  speeches,"  as  Harrington  said 
after  an  interview  with  him,  "  of  the  Queen  become 
no  man  who  hath  mens  sana  in  corpore  sano." 

No  sooner  had  Essex  fled  from  Ireland  than 
Tyrone  began  to  haggle  about  the  terms  and  re- 
newal of  the  truce.  He  would  have  nothing  to  do, 
he  said,  with  any  Minister  of  the  Queen  but  Essex  ; 
he  must,  he  declared,  consult  O'Donnell,  who  dis- 
approved of  peace  altogether,  and  he  must  include 
the  other  rebels  in  the  truce  ;  but  finally  a  renewal 
of  six  weeks  was  agreed  to.  Truce  or  no  truce, 
however,  Leinster  was  being  ravaged  still,  and 
Munster,  outside  of  the  garrisons  and  Lord  Barry's 
lands,  was  in  open  rebellion.  The  great  territorial 
Munster  chiefs,  Florence  M'Carty  More  and  the 
Earl   of  Desmond   (James   FitzThomas  Fitzgerald), 

person.  For  after  revenges,  fear  them  not."  (See  Edwards'  "  Life  and 
Letters  of  Raleigh,"  and  "  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,"  by  the  present  writer.) 
^  See  Devereux's  "  Lives  of  the  Devereux  Earls  of  Essex."  The 
evidence  as  to  Essex  having  seen  the  Queen  at  this  time  is  slight.  It 
depends  mainly  upon  a  remark  contained  in  a  letter  subsequently 
writteu  by  the  Earl  to  Elizabeth,  to  the  effect  that  she  had  by  her 
voice  commanded,  and  by  her  hands  thrust  him  out  of  her  presence. 


398  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

were  re-established  by  Tyrone ;  and  Connaught 
since  Sir  Conyers  Clifford's  defeat  and  death  was 
at  O'Donnell's  obedience.  Thus  Tyrone  could  afford 
to  speak  haughtily  to  the  Queen's  commander,  the 
Earl  of  Ormonde.  The  terms  of  the  truce,  he  com- 
plained, were  being  violated  by  the  English,  and  he 
threatened  that,  after  a  fortnight  longer,  "  I  will,  for 
God  and  my  country,  do  the  best  I  may  against 
enemies  and  tyrants."  "  I  wish  you  to  command 
your  secretary  to  be  more  discreet,"  wrote  the  Irish 
chief  to  Ormonde,  "  and  to  use  the  word  '  traitor ' 
as  seldom  as  he  may.  By  chiding  there  is  little 
gotten  at  my  hands."  ^ 

All  this  made  it  obvious  that  further  parley  would 
end  in  no  good.  "  To  use  her  name  to  so  odious  a 
traitor,"  ordered  the  Queen,  "  no  more  than  to  cast 
pearls  before  swine,"  and  Lord  Montjoy  was  in- 
structed to  make  ready  in  England  to  crush  Irish 
rebellion  once  for  all,  cost  what  it  might.  Garrisons 
were  to  be  established  everywhere  throughout  Ire- 
land and  no  further  truce  or  quarter  was  to  be  given 
to  Tyrone.^  An  army  of  12,000  foot  and  1400  horse 
were   to  be   at  the  new  viceroy's  disposal,  and  the 

^  Tyrone  to  Ormonde,  October  30,  1599,  Irisli  State  Papers. 

2  Although  Cecil  was  even  blasphemously  indignant — on  paper — at 
Tyrone's  assertion  at  this  period  that  the  Government  had  plotted  to 
have  him  murdered,  there  is  now  no  room  to  doubt  that  such  was  the 
case.  The  Irish  State  Papers  disclose  that  at  various  times  Lord  Borough, 
Sir  Geoffry  Fenton,  the  Earl  of  Ormonde,  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  and  the 
Queen  herself  countenanced  the  assassination  of  Tyrone,  and  Ralegh  goes 
so  far  as  to  defend  the  goodness  of  such  a  course  in  a  letter  to  Cecil 
(October  1598).  The  Carew  Papers  and  "  Pacata  Hibernia"  also 
prove  that  murder  was  a  regular  instrument  of  English  policy  in  Ireland, 
and  Sir  George  Carew  quite  coolly  mentions  to  Montjoy  the  despatch  of 
a  man  to  Spain  to  kill  O'Donnell,  who  had  fled  thither  (Carew  MSS., 
October  1602). 


MUNSTER   IN    REBELLION  399 

blow,  it  was  agreed,  must  be  struck  at  the  rebel 
before  the  Spaniards  could  come  to  his  aid  in  force. 
It  was  felt  even  in  England  now  that  the  nerve- 
lessness  hitherto  shown  in  the  dealings  with  Tyrone 
could  not  fail  to  encourage  the  new  King  of  Spain 
to  send  the  powerful  aid  for  which  Irish  churchmen 
and  chiefs  had  been  praying  so  long  and  so  earnestly. 
The  adhesion  of  Munster  especially  to  the  rebellion 
was  seen  to  be  the  great  peril  in  this  connection.  It 
was  perhaps  the  most  fervently  Catholic  part  of 
Ireland ;  its  splendid  harbours  were  the  easiest  of 
access  from  Spain,  and  the  re-erection  of  its  native 
southern  princes,  M'Carthy  More  and  Desmond,  had 
given  a  temporary  appearance  of  national  solidity  to  the 
Irish  cause.  For  this  reason  Tyrone  himself  attached 
the  greatest  importance  to  fomenting  the  rebel  cause 
in  Munster,  which  became  in  consequence  the  prin- 
cipal battle-ground  upon  which  finally  the  cause  of 
Catholic  supremacy  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land was  to  be  fought  out  to  the  bitter  end. 

The  Geraldines  in  exile  and  the  crowd  of  Irish 
priests  in  Spain  continued  to  beg  fervently  for  aid  to 
their  cause.  Soon  after  he  had  arranged  the  truce 
with  Essex,  Tyrone  had  sent  yet  two  more  emissaries 
to  plead  his  cause  with  young  Philip ;  and  hopeful 
messages  and  promises  were  again  sent  back  to 
Ireland  and  made  the  most  of  by  the  ardent  Celts 
who  carried  them.  But  still  the  habit  of  long  de- 
liberation weighed  heavily  upon  the  Spaniard,  and 
old  Philip's  love  for  infinite  information  dwelt  in  the 
statesmen  who  had  sat  at  his  feet.  So,  instead  of  a 
powerful  fleet  for  which  the  Irish  looked,  there 
sailed  into  the  bay  of  Donegal  in  April  1600  a  ship 


400  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

carrying  some  presents  of  money  and  munitions  and 
a  Spanish  friar,  Mateo  de  Oviedo,  whom  the  Pope 
had  appointed  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  with  him 
came  an  experienced  soldier.  Captain  Martin  de  la 
Cerda,  to  inspect  and  report  to  the  King  upon  the 
military  position  of  Tyrone.  The  new  Bishop  was 
delighted  with  his  foreign  flock.  Writing  to  his 
King  from  Donegal  (April  24)  he  assured  him  that  he 
had  in  Ireland  "the bravest  and  most  faithful  vassals 
that  any  king  could  have,  such  indeed,  that  if  they 
were  not  already  devoted  to  Spain  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  obtain  their  adhesion  by  all  possible  means." 
The  meeting  of  chiefs  in  the  monastery  of  Donegal 
was  less  optimistic  now  than  when  Captain  Cobos  had 
gone  thither  four  years  before.  "When  we  arrived 
empty-handed  only  to  repeat  again  the  old  pro- 
mises, they  were  overcome  with  sorrow  and  dis- 
may. .  .  .  Although  O'Neil  and  O'Donnell  are  full 
of  courage  they  cannot  prevail  over  the  other  chiefs, 
who  fear  the  long  delay  in  the  arrival  of  succour, 
and  suspect  that  they  are  being  played  with.  We 
have  done  our  best  to  stififen  them  by  every  possible 
argument  .  .  .  and  again  promised  that  help  should 
be  sent  with  all  speed.  This  has  tranquillised  them 
somewhat,  and  they  have  promised  to  wait  for  five 
months,  as  they  think  that  they  cannot,  in  any  case, 
hold  out  longer  than  that  without  help,  at  least  in 
money  to  pay  their  men.  They  have  done  great 
things  last  summer,  O'Neil  having  overrun  all 
Munster  and  submitted  it  to  your  Majesty,  whilst 
O'Donnell  has  subjected  Connaught."  Tyrone,  the 
Archbishop  informed  Philip,  had  almost  gained  over 
the  Earl  of  Essex,  and  had  recently  refused  the  sur- 


SPAIN   AND    THE    IRISH    REBELS       401 

render  of  Cork,  as  he  could  not  hold  the  city  without 
the  Spaniards.  "These  sixty  gentlemen,"  he  con- 
tinues, "  met  in  this  Monastery  of  Donegal  and 
discussed  matters,  not  like  savages,  but  like  prudent 
men.  They  received  the  chains  and  your  Majesty's 
portraits  with  great  ceremony,  saying  that  they 
would  wear  no  other  chains  nor  bonds  than  those 
of  your  Majesty.  They  are  very  grateful  for  the 
arms,  munitions,  &c.,  and  I,  for  my  own  part, 
humbly  supplicate  your  Majesty  to  bear  in  mind 
the  importance  of  this  business.  With  6000  men 
you  may  carry  through  an  enterprise  which  will 
bridle  English  insolence  in  Flanders  and  secure 
Spain  and  the  Indies  from  future  molestation."  ^ 

Whilst  the  Archbishop  remained  at  Donegal  as 
Philip's  representative,  Don  Martin  de  la  Cerda  hur- 
ried back  to  Spain,  equally  impressed  with  the  great 
results  that  might  now  be  obtained  by  the  sending  of 
timely  assistance  to  Tyrone.  With  him  he  carried 
fervent  letters  from  the  Irish  chieftains  to  the 
Spanish  king.  That  signed  jointly  by  Tyrone  and 
O'Donnell  is  the  most  important.  They  were,  they 
said,  in  the  last  extremity.  Their  estates,  men,  and 
resources  were  exhausted ;  and  as  the  Spanish  aid  is 
delayed  from  day  to  day,  after  so  many  messengers 
and  letters  have  been  sent,  they  are  sure  that  all 
spirits  must  fail,  and  they  will  have  to  give  way, 
unless  the  Spanish  succour  reaches  them  this  year 
{i.e.  1600).  Without  it,  all  is  lost.  Don  Martin  de 
la  Cerda  takes  a  schedule  of  their  requests,  and  of 
the  money  needful,  if  the  army  cannot  possibly  come 
this  year.    They  have  placed  the  chains  and  portraits 

1  Simancas  (Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.). 

2  C 


402  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

round  their  necks  in  token  of  Philip's  favour,  and 
they  fervently  pray  him  not  to  forsake  them  and  the 
Catholic  cause.  "  God  knows,  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  service  of  God  and  Spain,  they  would  not  have 
undertaken  the  war  at  all,  as  they  might  have  lived 
in  peace."  ^  Above  all,  they  beg  that  Maurice  Geral- 
dine,  heir  of  Desmond,  now  in  prison  in  Lisbon  for 
participation  in  a  riot  there,  should  be  released  and 
be  sent  to  Ireland  with  the  Spanish  expedition,  as 
well  as  all  the  Irish  bishops  and  men  of  rank  in  Spain 
and  Flanders.  As  a  further  pledge  of  Tyrone's 
faithfulness  to  Philip,  he  sent  with  La  Cerda  Henry 
O'Neil,  his  son,  to  be  educated  in  the  Spanish 
court." 

A  few  days  before  these  reports  arrived  in  Spain, 
Philip's  Council  had  exhaustively  considered  the 
question  of  Ireland,  in  consequence  of  a  letter  sent 
from  Flanders  by  the  Archduke  Albert  on  the  sub- 
ject. Tyrone,  apparently  in  despair  of  getting  a 
prompt  decision  from  Spain,  had  appealed  to  the 
Archduke  in  March.  The  Irish,  he  assured  him, 
had  sustained  the  war,  and  had  routed  the  English, 
in  the  confident  expectation  that  the  long-promised 

1  Simancas  (Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.). 

2  The  Archbishop  of  Santiago  wrote  to  Philip  III.  (May  i8,  1600), 
saying  that,  in  accordance  with  the  King's  order  that  he  was  to  welcome 
and  assist  any  person  sent  from  Ireland  by  the  Spanish  Archbishop  of 
Dublin,  he  had  received  at  Santiago  young  O'Neil  and  his  attendants, 
"  welcominjT  them  spiritually  by  confession,  absolution,  and  the  Mass, 
in  which  they  showed  themselves  truly  Catholic ;  and  he  had  enter- 
tained them  bodily  to  the  best  of  his  ability."  The  King,  he  says,  is 
doing  a  truly  pious  work  in  supporting  the  Irish  Catholics.  In  June 
young  O'Neil  was  brought  to  Madrid  with  much  distinction.  John 
O'Neil,  Earl  of  Tyrone,  the  other  son  of  the  great  Hu,L;h,  fell  at  the 
storming  of  Barcelona  in  164 1.  He  commanded  the  Irish  regiment  in 
the  service  of  Philip  IV. 


SPANISH    AID   TO    BE   SENT  403 

aid  from  Spain  would  be  sent  to  them,  but  as 
nothing  came,  they  fervently  begged  the  Archduke 
to  intercede  for  them.  But  the  new  sovereign  of 
Flanders  was  at  that  moment  in  close  negotiations 
with  the  English  Government  for  peace,  as  will  be 
related  presently ;  his  hands  were  full  of  his  own 
affairs,  and  he  had  no  desire  to  be  involved  in  the 
old  Spanish  ambitions ;  so  he  simply  passed  on 
Tyrone's  letter  to  (Spain,  as  a  matter  that  concerned 
him  not. 

The  Council  of  State,  on  this  occasion,  sent  a 
report  to  the  King  of  a  somewhat  more  practical 
character  than  the  canting  platitudes  which  they  had 
usually  presented  to  his  father.  They  deplored  that 
all  the  efforts  to  aid  the  Irish  had  ended  in  disaster, 
and  that  the  Catholics  were  in  a  more  desperate 
plight  than  ever ;  "  but  as  past  failures  have  not 
occurred  through  want  of  will,  and  our  Lord  always 
helps  in  the  direst  need,  we  must  trust  to  His  mercy 
in  this  case  to  infuse  fresh  spirit  into  them,  whilst 
your  Majesty  aids  them  as  far  as  you  can,  pending 
the  possibility  of  undertaking  the  matter  in  force. 
Your  Majesty  will  greatly  serve  God  and  your  own 
interest  by  doing  so,  as  in  no  place  can  the  Queen 
of  England  be  so  effectually  and  cheaply  embar- 
rassed as  in  Ireland.  It  will  also  enable  us  to  im- 
prove our  conditions  of  peace  and  encourage  the  Eng- 
lish Catholics.  It  is  therefore  recommended  that  at 
least  20,000  ducats  and  4000  quintals  of  biscuit^ 
should  be  forwarded  to  Corunna,  to  be  sent,  with 
some  arms  and  munitions,  to  Ireland  by  quick-sailing 
ships,  so  that  the  Irish  may  see  that  we  are  helping 

•'  A  quintal  is  loo  lbs. 


404  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

them  with  the  things  they  most  want,  without  delay. 
They  should  be  written  to  kindly,  and  assured 
that,  in  any  case,  your  Majesty  will  continue  to  pro- 
tect them,  and  when  God  wills,  that  a  full  force  may 
be  sent  to  liberate  them."  ^ 

It  will  be  noted  that  as  the  Spaniards  became 
more  practical  they  became  more  modest.  Past 
failures,  after  all,  had  taught  them  something ;  and 
the  20,000  ducats  and  two  cargoes  of  biscuits 
show  up  but  poorly  by  the  side  of  the  pretentious 
promises  of  the  past.  When,  however,  La  Cerda 
came  back  in  May  with  his  report  and  fresh  letters 
from  Tyrone  and  O'Donuell,  the  whole  matter  had 
to  be  reconsidered,  for  the  exhortation  of  the  Spanish 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  the  imposing  array  of 
sixty  Irish  chieftains  in  the  Monastery  of  Donegal 
protesting  their  loyalty  to  Spain,  impressed  Philip 
and  his  advisers  with  the  reality  of  the  opportunity. 
Don  Martin  told  the  King  that  the  five  havens  in 
the  hands  of  the  rebels  would  receive  the  whole 
fleet  in  safety,  and  that  the  food  necessary  for  the 
5000  or  6000  Spanish  soldiers  expected  existed 
already  in  the  island.  Horses  they  had,  he  said,  in 
plenty,  though  no  carts  or  traces ;  and  if  the  Spanish 
expedition  came  promptly,  Tyrone  could  raise  a  well- 
equipped  army  of  20,000  foot  and  1000  horse. 
The  enthusiastic  opinion  of  La  Cerda  evidently  pro- 
duced great  effect  upon  the  Council,  and  the  latter 
warmly  recommended  to  the  King  that  the  Irish 
Catholics  should  be  supported,  "  so  that  the  Queen 
should  be  served  as  she  serves  his  Majesty  by  help- 
ing the  Flemish  rebels." 

^  Simancas  (Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.). 


PHILIP    III.    TO   THE    RESCUE       405 

But  alas  !  then  comes  the  characteristic  Spanish 
touch,  which  shows  us  that  the  administration,  at  all 
events,  had  not  changed  for  the  better  under  the  new 
King.  Two  months  had  already  passed  since  it  was 
decided  to  send  immediately  the  20,000  ducats  and 
the  biscuits,  which,  it  was  again  stated,  was  all  that 
could  possibly  be  afforded  (July  i,  t6oo);  but  the 
Council,  after  this  interval,  had  to  pray  that  "  the 
Marquis  of  Poza  should  be  instructed  to  provide  the 
necessary  funds  without  delay,  because,  although  his 
Majesty  has  given  orders,  and  application  has  been 
made  to  the  Marquis,  he  has  not  delivered  the 
money,  saying  that  his  Majesty  has  given  him  no 
orders."  ^  When  young  Philip  had  before  him  this 
opinion  of  his  Council  again  urging  him  to  send,  at 
least,  the  small  aid  decided  upon  without  delay,  he 
scrawled  across  it  an  order,  which  of  itself  proves  his 
youth  and  ignorance  of  affairs,  as  well  as  the  wide 
gulf  which  in  character  separated  him  from  his 
father.  His  Council  had  told  him  that  the  utmost 
that  could  be  done  for  the  Irish  at  present  was  to 
send  them  the  temporary  assistance  mentioned,  but 
he  astounded  them  by  ordering  peremptorily  that  a 
powerful  army  and  fleet  should  be  sent  at  once  to 
conquer  Ireland.  Idiaquez,  the  King's  secretary, 
explained  the  reasons  for  Philip's  decision,  and  the 
Council  of  State  consisted  of  courtiers  too  submis- 
sive openly  to  dispute  his  wisdom.  They  had  no 
doubt,  they  replied,  that  the  enterprise  would  be 
quite  easy  and  safe,  and  "  your  Majesty  would  gain 
enormously  in  prestige  by  conquering  a  kingdom 
thus  unexpectedly.    The  bridle  which  the  possession 

'  Siiuancas  (Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.). 


4o6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

of  Ireland  by  your  Majesty  would  put  upon  England 
and  the  Northern  Powers,  would  enable  you  to  divert 
them  from  all  other  points  of  attack,  and  prevent 
them  from  molesting  Spain,  &c.  It  would  also  en- 
able you  to  make  good  terms  of  peace  and  recover 
the  Flemish  fortresses  held  by  the  English  for  the 
rebels.  In  case  of  the  Queen's  death,  your  Majesty, 
as  master  of  Ireland,  would  be  in  a  greatly  improved 
position  to  nominate  a  successor  to  the  English 
crown,"  But — although  they  applauded  the  King's 
decision  as  the  quintessence  of  wisdom  and  godliness, 
they  humbly  pointed  out  that  there  was  no  money 
and  no  time  to  send  an  expedition  to  Ireland  that 
year ;  and  finally  they  repeated  their  former  advice, 
to  send  only  the  ducats  and  the  biscuits,  whilst 
making  preparation  for  an  Armada  of  conquest  in 
the  following  year  (1601). 

Philip  was  young,  ardent,  and  unwise,  and  would 
not  be  gainsaid.  Again  he  returned  the  Council's 
report,  ordering  them  to  discuss  and  decide  upon 
the  means  for  sending  out  at  once  the  Armada 
of  conquest  upon  which  he  had  set  his  heart. 
His  decision,  the  Council  again  assured  him,  was 
"  worthy  of  his  grandeur  and  catholicity ; "  but 
again,  they  pointed  out  the  impossibility  of  carrying 
it  into  effect.  The  fitting  out  of  the  fleet,  the 
raising  and  training  the  men,  the  supply  of  the  arms 
and  stores,  and  the  provision  of  at  least  150,000 
ducats  to  pay  the  troops  during  the  campaign, 
would  all  have  to  be  done  in  six  weeks  ;  because,  to 
send  an  expedition  later  than  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber, would  be  to  risk  losing  it  altogether.  Besides, 
they  pleaded,   where   was   the   money  for  it  all  to 


PHILIP   III.   IN   A    HURRY  407 

come  from  ?  No  effort  sliould  be  spared  to  obey 
his  Majesty's  orders ;  and  the  Adelantado  should  be 
requested  at  once  to  send  a  report  of  all  that  would 
be  needed  and  the  money  it  would  cost.  Troops 
should  be  warned  for  service,  and  every  man  and 
weapon  that  could  be  drawn  from  Spain,  Italy,  or 
the  Islands  should  be  utilised  for  Ireland,  Still  the 
Council  were  doubtful,  and  could  only  promise  to 
do  their  best.  Philip's  autograph  note  in  reply  to 
this  is  so  characteristic  that  it  deserves  to  be  repro- 
duced entire,  as  I  transcribed  it  myself  at  Simancas: 
"  As  the  expedition  is  so  entirely  for  the  glory  of 
Almighty  God,  all  difficulties  to  it  must  be  over- 
come somehow.  The  greatest  energy  and  diligence 
must  be  exercised  on  all  hands.  I  will  find  money 
for  it,  even  if  I  have  to  sacrifice  what  I  need  for  my 
own  person,  so  that  the  expedition  may  go  this  year. 
Settle  everything  without  delay.  Get  statements 
of  all  that  will  be  needed,  and  forward  them  im- 
mediately to  me.  Do  not  wait  to  send  to  the 
Adelantado.  I  will  give  orders  for  the  immediate 
collection  of  the  money  sufficient  to  send  a  force 
of  6000  men.  In  the  meanwhile,  send  to  Ireland 
instantly  Don  Martin  de  la  Cerda,  with  the  20,000 
ducats  and  the  4000  quintals  of  biscuits."  Such 
hastiness  and  disregard  for  "  information "  were 
enough  to  make  Philip  II.  turn  in  his  porphyry 
tomb ;  but  old  Philip's  system  was  stronger  than 
young  Philip's  despotism,  and  nothing  was  done. 

These  deliberations  of  the  King  and  Council  had 
delayed  matters  to  the  end  of  August,  and  three 
months  later  (23rd  November  1600),  the  Council  of 
State  were  asked  to  report  upon  fresh  letters  from 


4o8  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

Tyrone  and  O'Donnell,  which  had  just  been  brought 
to  Spain  by  Richard  Owen.^  In  the  course  of  their 
report,  to  which  reference  will  be  made  presently, 
the  Council  say  that  great  efforts  had  been  made  to 
complete  the  expedition  which  had  been  ordered 
by  the  King.  "But  your  Majesty's  absence  has 
so  delayed  matters  that  the  vessels  and  galleys  in 
Andalusia  are  still  very  much  behind-hand.  Of  the 
sixteen  needed,  only  eight  have  been  fitted  out,  and 
the  raising  of  the  sailors  has  not  even  begun."  They 
pray  the  King  to  insist  upon  greater  speed  being 
used,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  ships  should  be  got 
ready  at  once,  as  well  as  the  necessary  provisions. 
"Out  of  the  30,000  quintals  of  biscuit  expected, 
only  12,000  have  yet  arrived  in  Lisbon,  of  which 
it  was  decided  to  send  4000  quintals  to  Ireland." 
Thus,  as  we  see,  whilst  Tyrone  was  at  close  grip 
with  Montjoy  in  Ireland,  the  administrative  para- 
lysis of  Philip's  system  was  preventing  the  de- 
spatch of  the  precious  aid  which  might  have  turned 
the  scale  in  his  favour.  Councils  might  recommend, 
kings  might  command,  realms  might  go  a-begging ; 
but  corruption,  poverty,  sloth,  and  bigotry  reigned 
supreme  over  all. 

Tyrone's  demands  now  brought  by  Richard  Owen 
were  more  important  and  far-reaching  than  any 
that    he    had    sent  previously.     Prince    O'Neil,    as 

'  Richard  Owen  was  an  Irisliman  who  for  years  had  been  in  the 
pay  of  Spain,  and  was  formerly  in  Sir  William  Stanley's  Irish  traitor- 
regiment.  He  had  accompanied  Tyrone  in  the  latter's  famous  interview 
with  Essex  ;  and  after  Essex  had  returned  to  London  the  latter  tried  to 
excuse  Tyrone's  sulkiness  towards  other  English  officers  by  saying  that 
Owen,  an  agent  of  Spain,  was  always  by  his  side,  and  Tyrone  dared 
not  seem  friendly  with  the  English  in  his  presence. 


TYRONE'S    DEMANDS   OK    SPAIN      409 

Tyrone  now  calls  himself,  must  be  appointed  Cap- 
tain-General of  all  Ireland,  "as  no  Irishman  will 
consent  to  be  governed  by  one  of  lower  rank 
than  himself."  O'Donnell  and  Desmond  (James 
FitzThomas),  respectively,  must  be  recognised  as 
governors  of  Connaught  and  Munster,  and  the  Irish 
people  must  be  adopted  by  Philip,  either  as  sub- 
jects, allies,  OY  proteges.  The  war  should  be  actively 
prosecuted  during  the  spring  and  summer,  and  all 
the  Irish  gentlemen  in  Spain  and  Flanders  should 
be  sent  in  the  expedition  when  it  comes.  The 
Pope,  moreover,  should  be  urged  to  excommunicate 
all  Irishmen  who  aid  the  heretics,  and  no  Irish 
ship  should  be  allowed  in  a  Spanish  port  without 
a  licence  from  Tyrone.  Artillery  and  harness  must 
be  sent,  but  no  horses  are  needed.  The  plan  now 
proposed  by  Tyrone  was  for  Philip  to  seize  in 
Spanish  ports  all  the  Irish,  Scottish,  and  Breton 
ships  that  had  gone  thither  as  usual  for  cargoes 
of  wine.  These  should  be  loaded  with  men  and 
arms,  and.  under  the  convoy  of  ten  small  ships 
of  war,  be  sent  to  Ireland.  "  If  any  disaster 
occurs,"  says  Tyrone  somewhat  ungenerously,  "your 
Majesty  will  lose  less  than  if  you  sent  your  own 
galleys."  Above  all,  he  says,  the  way  to  cast  out 
the  heretics  speedily  and  cheaply  will  be  for  the 
expedition  to  go  to  Carlingford,  forty  miles  from 
Dublin.  "Operating  from  there,  the  Spaniards  may 
expel  in  three  days  four  of  the  six  English  garrisons 
in  O'Neil's  country,  and  more  can  be  done  there 
against  the  English  in  six  months  than  elsewhere 
in  many  years.  If  the  force  goes  to  Munster  the 
war  will  be  interminable." 


4IO  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

But  Tyrone  closes  his  long  despatch  discourag- 
ingly.  The  Catholics,  he  says,  are  tired  of  fighting, 
and  if  aid  be  not  promptly  sent  they  must  make 
peace  with  the  English.  The  Queen  offered  them 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  to  each  chief  the  pos- 
session of  his  lands,  with  many  new  privileges.  The 
Catholics  have  hitherto  refused  peace  out  of  affec- 
tion to  his  Majesty ;  but  the  King  of  Scotland  has 
now  offered  to  make  good  terms  for  them  with  the 
Englishwoman,  and  they  may  be  forced  to  accept 
them.  "Most  nations  dislike  Spain.  The  Irish 
love  it."  It  is  only  just,  therefore,  that  they  should 
be  succoured ;  but  help  must  come  at  once  to  be  of 
any  use. 

This  reference  to  James  was  hardly  likely  to 
strengthen  the  Irish  cause  in  Spain.  The  Scottish 
envoy  already  referred  to  (page  388)  had  been  re- 
ceived ceremoniously,  but,  as  we  have  seen  by 
Fitzherbert's  report,  insincerely.  The  rallying  to 
James's  side  of  the  non-Spanish  Catholic  elements 
in  Europe  had,  in  fact,  caused  the  utmost  uneasiness 
amongst  the  Jesuits  and  thorough-going  Spaniards 
everywhere,  as  it  had  also  done  to  a  large  number 
of  the  English  people,  though  for  opposite  reasons. 
The  logical  result  of  James's  Catholic  intrigue,  so 
far  as  the  English  Government  was  concerned,  was 
to  cause  an  active  renewal  of  the  negotiations  for 
peace  with  Flanders  and  Spain,  to  which  reference 
will  be  made  presently ;  but  in  the  Spanish  court  it 
gave  a  pretext  for  the  opening  of  a  fresh  series  of 
intrigues  with  the  object  of  defeating  the  party  of 
compromise,  and  seating  upon  the  English  thi'one 
a  nominee  of  Spain. 


THE   JESUITS  AGAIN    INTERVENE     411 

Father  Persons  was  now  the  Hector  of  the  English 
College  in  Rome/  and  from  him  came,  fittingly,  the 
renewed  note  of  alarm.  Notwithstanding  his  famous 
book  and  his  constant  efforts  to  forward  the  Infanta's 
candidature,  he  had  never  been  able  to  persuade 
Philip  11.  to  proclaim  officially  his  daughter's  claim 
to  the  English  throne.  The  Queen  of  England  was 
now  getting  old  and  feeble,  the  King  of  Scots,  with 
his  cunning  and  ability,  was  grouping  around  him 
every  interest  that  could  help  him,  and  Spain 
alone,  for  which  Persons  and  his  friends  had  worked 
incessantly  for  twenty  years,  stood  slothfuUy  by 
boasting,  whilst  the  great  prize  of  England  ripened 
to  drop  into  the  ready  hands  of  the  very  man  whose 
accession  seemed  to  threaten  Spain  with  extinction 
as  a  power,  and  the  final  defeat  of  Spanish-Catholic 
supremacy  in  Europe.  Persons  therefore  asked  the 
Duke  of  Sessa,  the  Spanish  Ambassador  in  Rome, 
to  address  a  despatch  upon  the  subject  to  the  King ; 
and  at  the  same  time  he  arranged  through  his  agents 
in  England  for  the  extreme  English  Catholics  to  send 
a  memorandum  to  Father  Creswell,  their  representa- 
tive in  the  Spanish  capital,  praying  Philip  for  a 
decision  in  accordance  with  their  views,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  proximate  death  of  Elizabeth. 

*  Persons'  ability  and  authority  had  reduced  the  turbulent  Roman 
College  to  something  approaching  order,  but  in  the  meanwhih'  liis  own 
college  of  Valladolid  was  feeling  strongly  the  revulsion  caused  amongst 
the  young  English  students  to  the  ami-patriotic  Jesuit  teaching,'.  A 
considerable  number  of  them  ran  away  and  took  the  Benedictine  habit 
especially  ;  and  thenceforward  some  of  the  most  unselfish  missionaries 
who  faced  martyrdom  in  England  were  drawn  from  that  order,  which, 
according  to  Father  Watson  ("  Quodlibels  "),  the  Jesuits  were  desirous  of 
suppressing  in  the  event  of  a  revival  of  the  Catholic  supremacy  in 
England.  A  very  interesting  account  of  the  Benedictine  Mission  at 
the  period  will  be  found  in  Dom  Bede  Camm's  "Life  of  John  Roberts." 


412  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

This  was  in  the  spring  of  1600,  and  the  inter- 
minable secret  discussions  on  the  question  in  the 
Spanish  Council  took  place  at  the  same  time  as  their 
deliberations  on  the  Irish  expedition  related  on  pages 
403-407.  The  result  they  arrived  at  was  to  recommend 
the  King  to  adopt  his  half-sister  the  Infanta  as  his 
nominee  to  the  English  throne,  and  that  Father 
Persons  alone  should  be  cautiously  informed  of  the 
fact  by  the  Duke  of  Sessa,  in  order  that  it  might  be 
conveyed  in  strict  secrecy  to  the  leading  Catholics 
in  England,  who  were  opposed  to  a  Scottish  ruler. 
The  Infanta^  and  her  husband  were  also  to  be  in- 
formed, by  means  of  an  autograph  letter  from  the 
King,  of  the  honour  intended  for  them.  They  were 
to  be  urged  to  promote  the  plan  by  means  of  secret 
agents  in  England,  and  to  be  lavish  of  money  and 
promises  in  order  to  win  over  useful  adherents.  In 
the  meanwhile  it  was  recommended  that  the  Irish 
expedition  should  go  forward,  and  200,000  ducats 
be  sent  to  the  Spanish  Ambassador  in  Flanders 
(Zuniga),  to  hold  for  the  moment  that  Elizabeth 
should  die :  "  so  that  he  may  be  able  promptly  to 
provide  troops  and  whatever  else  may  be  needed  for 
successfully  carrying  through  the  business,  which 
principally  depends  upon  celerity  of  action  at  the 
proper  time."  ^  Some  of  the  councillors  were  alarmed 
at  the  idea  that  Flanders  and  England  under  one 
sovereign  might  in  time  become  a  danger  to  Spain ; 
and  it  was  decided  that  the  Infanta  should  be  told 
that  if  she  became  Queen  of  England  she  must  give 

^  Isabel  Clara  Eugenia,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Philip,  was,  it  will 
be  recollected,  married  to  her  cousin,  the  Archduke,  and  was  with  him. 
joint  sovereign  of  Flanders. 

^  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


THE   ENGLISH   SUCCP:SSION  413 

up  the  Belgic  provinces  to  Philip.  This,  although 
only  two  members  seemed  to  see  it,  was  sufficient 
to  render  the  whole  plan  nugatory.  The  Infanta 
was  not  likely  to  give  up  the  State  she  had  inherited 
for  one  she  would  have  to  conquer  and  hold  by  force 
of  arms ;  whilst  the  main  attraction  to  Englishmen 
of  any  such  solution  as  that  proposed  was  the  cer- 
tainty of  a  close  union  between  Flanders  and  England, 
always  a  necessity  for  both  countries. 

The  despatches  from  the  Duke  of  Sessa  which 
had  given  rise  to  this  discussion  are  more  important 
for  the  elucidation  of  an  obscure  point  in  English 
history  than  for  the  inept,  self-destructive,  decision 
just  described.  Father  Persons  assured  the  Duke  that 
if  action  were  taken  promptly,  "  not  only  Catholics, 
but  also  many  heretics  will  flock  to  his  Majesty's 
side  ;  even  the  principal  councillors,  such  as  the 
Lord- Admiral,  the  Lord  Treasurer  [Buckhurst),  and 
Secretary  Cecil.  It  is  impossible  now  to  say  how  far 
Feather  Persons  was  warranted  in  making  this  state- 
ment ;  but  it  is  evident  that  communications  had 
passed  between  a  group  of  English  noblemen  and 
his  agents,^  because  in  his  list  of  possible  candi- 
dates "as  alternatives  to  the  Infanta  proposed  by  the 
English  Catholics,  he  mentions  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
whose  wife  (a  daughter  of  Philip  II.)  had  recently 
died  ;  and  suggests  that  he  should  marry  Arabella 

^  It  is  likewise  very  significant  that  at  this  period  (July  i6(Xj), 
Cobham  and  Ealegh,  who  were  afterwards  sacrificed  for  having 
plotted  with  Spain  against  James,  had  been  sent  by  Cecil  to  Flanders, 
ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  informing  Lord  Grey  that  the  Queen  was 
relenting  towards  him.  It  is  (juite  within  the  bounds  of  probability 
that  communications  then  passed  between  them  and  the  Englisli  refu- 
gees with  regard  to  the  succession. 


414  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

Stuart ;  and  more  curious  still,  the  only  English 
nobleman  suggested  in  the  list  was  the  Earl  of 
Worcester,^  "  a  Catholic  of  good  parts,  who, 
although  he  has  no  claim  to  the  crown,  might 
marry  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Derby."  These 
suggestions  could  not  have  been  made  without  the 
connivance  of  the  persons  mentioned.  Still  the 
English  Catholics  for  whom  Persons  spoke  ex- 
pressed their  great  preference  for  the  Infanta ;  and 
the  Spanish  Council  decided  to  mention  no  other 
name,  either  in  approval  or  otherwise,  until  matters 
were  further  developed.  On  one  point  every  Coun- 
cillor was  absolutely  agreed,  namely,  that  the  most 
important  thing  was  "  utterly  to  exclude  the  Kings 
of  Scotland  and  France."  "  As  in  a  matter  of  this 
sort  right  is  the  least  important  element  of  the 
claim,  although  it  is  necessary  in  order  to  justify 
the  employment  of  force,  the  Council  is  of  opinion 
that  the  financial  question  should  be  first  considered 
and  decided  ;  whilst  the  forces  in  Flanders  and  the 
fleet  should  be  made  ready,  so  that  on  the  very  day 
that  the  Queen  dies  a  movement  may  be  made  from 
both  sides  {i.e.  Flanders  and  Ireland)  simultaneously 
in  favour  of  the  object  aimed  at."  Philip  was,  as 
we  have  seen,  slothful  and  pleasure-loving,  deciding 

1  The  Earl  of  Worcester  (Henry  Somerset)  was  an  elderly  man,  who 
died  in  the  following  year  (1601),  leaving  a  small  fortune  and  a  large 
family.  The  person  referred  to  in  the  test  is  probably  his  son,  Lord 
Herbert,  and  curiously  enough  at  the  period  when  the  Spanish  Council 
were  discussing  his  candidature  for  the  English  crown,  he  was  marry- 
ing with  great  pomp  and  splendour  Anne  (or  Elizabeth)  Russell,  a  cousin 
of  Sir  Robert  Cecil's.  Accounts  of  this  magnificent  festivity  will  be 
found  in  Chamberlain's  "  Letters  "  and  Nichols'  "  Progresses  of  Queen 
Elizabeth."  See  also  Lady  Russell's  letter  to  Cecil,  Hatfield  Papers, 
vol.  vii.  p.  267. 


THE   ENGLISH   SUCCESSION  415 

often  by  impulse,  but  neglecting  to  insist  upon  his 
decisions  being  carried  out.  Everything  was  loft  to 
Lerma,  who  was  too  lavish  in  Spain  to  be  anxious 
to  undertake  much  expenditure  elsewhere.  So, 
month  after  month  passed  without  any  active 
orders  being  obtained  from  them  with  regard  to  the 
English  succession.^  Father  Ores  well,  who,  of  course, 
was  ignorant  of  the  discussion  I  have  just  described, 
incessantly  prayed  for  an  answer  that  he  might  send 
to  England,  but  for  months  he  begged  in  vain. 
There  was  no  promptitude  to  be  expected  from 
Philip  III.  any  more  than  there  had  been  from 
Philip  IT.,  in  the  one  case  because  he  worked  too  little, 
and  in  the  other  because  he  had  worked  too  much. 

At  length,  early  in  December  1600,  Father  Cres- 
well  appears  to  have  been  asked  his  opinion  as  to  the 
form  in  which  an  answer  to  the  English  Catholics 
should  be  drafted ;  and  the  memorandum  which 
he  consequently  submitted  to  the  King  begins  with 
a  somewhat  obscure  suggestion.  "  The  answer,"  he 
says,  *'  should  include  some  general  reference  to  the 
pretensions  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  so  as  to  open  the 
door  to  an  arrangement  by  which  he  may  be  gained 

1  During  this  period  (the  autumn  of  1600)  an  event  happened  which 
shows  how  keen  the  Jesuit  party  was  to  lose  no  point  in  the  game. 
The  Duke  of  Parma,  who  had  a  far  better  claim  to  the  English  throne 
than  Philip  or  the  Infanta,  was  intriguing  in  Rome  to  obtain  a  cardi- 
nal's hat  for  Arthur  Pole  (nephew  of  Cardinal  Pole)  ;  but  the  Jesuits 
took  fright  at  this  at  once.  Pole,  they  said,  was  only  twenty-five,  and 
practically  a  foreigner,  and  worst  of  all,  "he  will  not  be  a  fit  instru- 
ment to  aid  in  the  object  desired  by  all  good  English  Catholics  in  your 
Majesty's  interests,  as  the  most  intimate  English  friends  he  has  have 
been  those  opposed  to  your  Majesty."  The  English  Jesuit  party, 
through  Thomas  Fitzherbert,  therefore,  urged  Philip  to  move  the  Pope 
to  make  Father  Persons  a  cardinal  instead  of  Pole  (Brit.  Mus.  MSS. 
28,420). 


41 6  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

to  the  service  of  God  and  your  Majesty."^  As  he 
did  on  a  former  occasion  (page  224),  Creswell  urges 
the  necessity  of  an  appearance  of  great  moderation 
and  mildness,  and  his  draft  answer  points  out  "  that 
the  fault  being  national  rather  than  personal,  it  will 
be  unjust  to  treat  heretics  in  England  as  they  are 
treated  in  Spain,  or  as  they  were  treated  in  England 
by  Queen  Mary.  Conversion  may  be  best  forwarded 
by  caring  well  for  working  people,  and  by  winning 
converts  by  suavity  and  mildness."  The  principal 
Catholics,  he  thought,  should  be  informed  privately 
that  the  King  of  Spain  would  support  the  Infanta's 
claim  with  a  powerful  force  when  the  Queen  died, 
but  no  time  must  be  lost  or  they  will  rally  to  the 
King  of  Scots.  Certainly,  continues  Creswell, 
"  any  new  sovereign  of  England  (except  a  Spanish 
nominee)  will  be  worse  for  Spanish  interests  even 
than  Elizabeth  ;  because  by  granting  freedom  of 
conscience    he  will    conciliate   a  certain    faction  in 

^  It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  Essex's  pretensions  could  have  been  re- 
conciled with  Spanish  aims  ;  but  as  it  was  known  that  he  had  been 
in  treasonable  communication  Avith  Tyrone,  who  had  rejiorted  that  he 
(Essex)  was  willing,  in  return  for  favours  to  himself,  "to  hand  the 
country  over  to  your  Majesty"  (Philip),  Father  Creswell  doubtless 
believed  this  to  have  been  the  case,  and  that  Essex  could  be  bought  by 
the  concession  to  him  of  power  and  wealth.  It  is,  however,  fair  to  say 
that  this  statement  only  rests  upon  Tyrone's  word  as  repeated  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Mateo  de  Oviedo.  Considerable  strength  is 
given  to  the  chance  of  its  truth  by  a  note  written  in  April  1601  by 
Father  Bluet  on  a  letter  from  Dr.  Bagshaw  to  him,  asking  for  further 
particulars  of  Persons'  hand  in  Essex's  matter  ("  Jesuits  and  Seculars," 
from  Petyt  MSS.).  Bluet  writes  :  "  Mr.  Parsons  about  three  yeares 
since  was  tampering  and  hatching  a  plotte  to  set  up  Essex  against  her 
Majestie.  Hereof  he  brake  w*^*^  a  priest,  and  acquayting  hym  w'^''  ye 
helpes  y*  he  shuld  haue  out  of  Spayne  and  ye  Lowe  Contries,  moved 
ye  said  priest  to  be  his  messenger  of  this  matter  unto  ye  earle.  But  ye 
priest  refused  to  be  a  dealer  in  such  cause,  and  yet  gaue  him  good  words 
lest  otherwise  he  might  haue  procured  hym  to  be  sent  to  ye  galleys.'' 


BOTH  WELL   IN   SPAIN  417 

Home,  and  will  prevent  the  Catholics  from  looking 
to  your  Majesty."  Above  all,  he  prays  that  an 
answer  should  be  speedily  sent  to  England,  in  which 
recommendation  the  Council  concurred,  though  they 
rejected  his  hint  that  Arabella  Stuart  or  the  Earl  of 
Derby's  daughter  (sister?)  should  be  mentioned  as 
alternatives  to  the  Infanta.  But  again  the  whole 
business  was  relegated  to  the  pigeon-holes  of  Thilip 
and  Lerma,  and  still  no  decided  answer  was  sent  to 
the  English  Catholics. 

Nor  were  the  Irish  and  English  appeals  the  only 
ones  that  at  this  time  occupied  the  ponderous  delibe- 
rations of  Philip's  advisers.  Bothwell,  after  trying  un- 
successfully to  intrigue  with  Cecil,  to  whom  he  offered 
his  services  as  a  spy,  had  travelled  from  Flanders  to 
Spain,  and  was  for  ever  bombarding  the  King  and 
Lerma  with  projects  and  memoranda  for  the  "  con- 
version" of  Scotland.  His  first  plan  was  for  3000 
troops  to  land  in  the  Orkneys,  which  belonged  to  his 
brother,  the  Earl  of  Caithness.  The  latter  was  to 
contribute  4000  clansmen,  and,  after  fortifying  the 
islands,  the  force  was  to  seize  Broughty  and  Perth, 
which,  Bothwell  said,  could  be  made  impregnable. 
The  advantages  he  promised  from  this  step  were 
enormous.  The  Dutch  could  be  crippled  by  the 
stoppage  of  all  their  commerce ;  the  Queen  of 
England  would  be  forced  to  stand  on  the  defensive 
with  all  her  resources  ;  the  Irish  could  be  supported 
with  ease  from  the  west  coast,  and  the  King  of 
France  would  find  himself  checkmated  by  the  only 
means  that  could  frustrate  his  plans, ^  as  he  would  be 

'  War  between  France  and  Spain  was  threatening  in  consequence  of 
the  claim  of  France  to  tlie  Mariiuisate  of  Saluzzo. 

2   D 


41 8  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

obliged  to  send  troops  to  Scotland.  The  principal 
object,  however,  at  first  professed  by  Bothwell  was 
that  James  should  be  rendered  powerless  to  push 
his  claim  to  the  English  crown  when  Elizabeth 
should  die.  If  he  is  allowed  to  establish  himself  in 
England,  *'  he  will  be  a  greater  enemy  to  God  and 
Spain  than  ever,  since  he  will  be  very  powerful  by 
land  and  sea,  aided  by  Denmark,  Holland,  and  all 
the  heretics."  ^  Again  and  again  Bothwell  returned 
to  the  charge.  The  Irish  enterprise  could  not  be 
undertaken  successfully,  he  assured  Philip,  unless  in 
conjunction  with  an  invasion  of  Scotland,  which 
would  furnish  a  base  of  supplies.  Then  his  plans 
became  larger  :  4000  men  should  land  in  the  Orkneys 
and  4000  in  Kirkcudbright,  the  noblemen  of  the 
north  and  west,  all  of  whose  names  he  gives,  will 
be  ready  to  join  the  Spaniards  when  they  land ;  the 
Catholic  Church  in  Scotland  must  pay  the  whole  of 
the  expense  of  the  war,  and  a  Spanish  ambassador 
should  be  sent  to  Scotland  at  once  to  arrange  the 
business  secretly  with  the  Catholic  nobles. 

All  this  was,  of  course,  visionary,  and  in  the  cir- 
cumstances impossible,  seeing  the  financial  and  ad- 
ministrative condition  of  Spain ;  but  to  add  to  its 
impracticability  Bothwell  somewhat  later  suggested 
conditions  that  might,  he  thought,  be  proposed  for 
bringing  in  James  himself.  The  King  of  Scots 
might  be  recognised  by  Spain  as  King  of  England 
if  he  would  marry  his  son  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy's 
daughter  and  his  daughter  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy 
himself,  the  Prince  (Henry)  being  sent  to  live  in 
Spain  under  Philip's  control.      "There  is   no   other 

1  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.,  Simancas. 


JAMES   STILL   ACTIVE  419 

alternative  but  to  make  peace  and  a  firm  alliance 
with  the  King  of  Scots  before  the  Queen  of  England 
dies,  or  else  to  make  a  determined  war  which  will 
utterly  ruin  and  destroy  him,  which  will  be  easy  for 
his  Majesty."  Bothwell  did  not  apparently  care 
very  much  which  course  w^as  adopted  so  long  as 
his  intriguing  spirit  might  be  employed  in  promot- 
ing it ;  but  Philip  was  powerless  to  undertake  such 
a  task  as  the  invasion  of  Scotland,  even  with  the 
questionable  aid  of  the  shifty  Scottish  nobles.  It 
was  seen  that  in  every  Scottish  plan  there  still  lurked 
the  possibility  of  James  Stuart  being  placed  on  the 
English  throne  by  the  Catholics  as  a  consequence  of 
his  assumed  conversion,  and  this,  as  we  have  seen 
from  the  first,  was  the  one  solution  which  Spain 
dreaded  of  all  things.  So  Bothwell's  grand  schemes 
were  all  vaguely  praised  and  relegated  to  the  oblivion 
of  Lerma's  pigeon-holes,  whilst  he  was  kept  in  hand 
by  great  pensions  on  paper  and  small  payments  in 
cash.^ 

Whilst  the  Spaniards  were  thus  trifling,  James 
Stuart  was  busier  than  ever.  Patrick  Stuart  and 
James  Drummond  were  sent  to  the  Pope  in  the 
summer  of  1600  "to  confirm  the  promise  previously 

^  One  scheme  of  Bothwell's  was  accepted  (August  1600),  altliough  I 
can  find  no  record  of  its  having  been  carried  into  effect.  Lord  Burleigh, 
a  Scottish  Baron,  had  been  sent  by  James  as  his  ambassador  to  Holland 
to  obtain  the  recognition  of  the  States  to  his  English  claims.  Burleigli 
was  instructed  to  purchase  in  Holland  20,000  muskets  and  as  many 
cuirasses  to  send  to  Scotland;  "but,''  said  Bothwell,  "he  is  so  good  a 
servant  of  mine  that  it  will  be  easy  to  induce  him  to  bring  all  these 
arms  hither  instead  of  to  Scotland  "  (Simancas  i\lSS.,  Spanish  Calendar), 

2  The  Master  of  Gray  sent  to  England  the  copy  of  the  letter  written 
by  James  to  the  Pope,  in  which  the  Cardinal's  hat  was  requested  for 
the  Carthusian  Chisholm,  liishop  of  Vaison,  and  a  confirmation  sent  of 
the  promise  taken  by  the  latter  of   concessions  to  the  Catholics  in 


420  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

taken  to  Rome  by  the  Scottish  Carthusian  Bishop  of 
Vaison  (for  whom  James  asked  for  a  cardinal's  hat), 
and  to  pray  for  the  money  promised  by  the  Pontiff 
for  making  war  upon  heretic  England.  Father 
Persons  in  Rome  was  now  almost  fiercely  remon- 
strating with  the  Duke  of  Sessa,  as  the  Scottish 
King's  successful  hoodwinking  of  the  Papacy  and 
the  Catholics  everywhere  became  more  and  more 
apparent.  Persons  had  persuaded  the  Pope  to 
throw  cold  water  on  Constable's  romantic  efforts  to 
convert  James  in  the  spring  of  1600,  but,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  last  chapter,  Constable  had  then 
managed  to  enlist  the  French  in  his  plans,  and 
had  gone  to  Scotland  in  conjunction  with  Bethune 
and  other  French  representatives.  They  had  man- 
aged also  to  bring  into  the  plan  the  Pope's  Nuncio 
in  Paris,  and  had  swept  into  their  net  most  or  all  of 
the  English  refugees,  who  had  despaired  of  a  Spanish 
dispensation  after  the  death  of  Philip  II.  and  the 

Gotland.  This  was  accompanied  by  professions  of  reverence  to  the 
Pontiff.  Elizabeth  indignantly  sent  Bowes  to  demand  an  explanation 
from  James,  who  solemnly  declared  that  he  had  sent  no  such  letter, 
which  assertion  the  Secretary  of  State,  Elphinstone  (Lord  Balmerino), 
confirmed.  At  a  subsequent  period  Cardinal  Bellarmin  published  the 
letter,  and  upon  investigation  Elphinstone  confessed  that  the  King-'s 
signature  had  been  obtained  by  a  trick  and  that  the  King  was  ignorant 
of  the  contents  of  the  letter.  Elphinstone  accordingly  was  tried  and 
condemned,  but  pardoned  on  the  intercession  of  the  Queen  of  Scots. 
Both  Robertson  and  Dr.  Gardiner  appear  to  accept  Elphinstone's  con- 
fession in  good  faith,  and  the  Scottish  Jesuit,  Creighton,  who  had 
been  concerned  at  Rome  in  Drummond's  mission,  endeavoured  to  let 
his  King  down  gently  by  declaring  that  in  the  letter  James  did  not 
profess  to  be  a  Catholic.  With  the  many  letters  now  before  us  in 
which  James  does  pretend  his  desire  for  reconciliation  with  Rome,  the 
most  probable  explanation  of  Elphinstone's  action  in  this  particular 
case  is  that  he  sacrificed  himself  to  save  his  sovereign's  reputation,  and 
on  that,  as  on  so  many,  other  occasions,  James  lied  like  the  coward 
he  was. 


JESUIT   EFFORTS   RENEWED  421 

stoppage  of  their  pensions.  Emissaries  of  this 
strong  combination  actively  sped  between  I'aris, 
Rome,  England,  and  Scotland,  and  their  errands 
were  soon  divulged  to  Persons  (December  1600).^ 
The  association  of  the  King  of  France  with  James 
in  his  plans  made  the  matter  all  the  more  alarming 
for  the  Jesuit  party,  for  Henry  was  their  deadliest 
enemy,  reigning  as  he  did  by  means  of  conciliation 
and  tolerance.  Persons  reported  that  already  Henry 
had  begun  to  make  an  arrangement  with  the  English 
nobles,  both  Catholics  and  heretics,  to  obtain  some 
measure  of  toleration  for  the  former  during  the 
Queen's  life  and  for  James  to  succeed  on  the  same 
lines  when  she  died.  The  promoters  of  the  scheme, 
he  said,  had  their  agents  with  the  Earl  of  F^ssex  and 
other  members  of  the  Queen's  Council  for  the  pur- 
pose of  settling  the  details,  and  if  something  was  not 
done  at  once  the  cause  of  the  Infanta  was  ruined.^ 
This  seems  somewhat  to  have  aroused  Philip's  Govern- 
ment, who  in  consequence  sent  orders  to  the  Duke 
of  Sessa  to  watch  matters  closely  in  Rome  and  to 
alienate  the  Pope  from  the  King  of  Scotland.  Again 
the  Spanish  Council  of  State  prayed  the  King  of 
Spain  to  make  up  his  mind  openly  to  champion  the 
Infanta's  claim.     Here  was  England  slipping  from 

^  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  at  tliis  period  also  the  Arch  priest  con- 
troversy was  in  full  swing.  The  English  Seculars,  many  of  whom  had 
been  suspended  by  the  Archpriest  Blackwell  for  schism,  had  aj)pL'aled 
to  the  University  of  Paris  for  judgment  on  the  points  involved.  The 
Faculty  of  Theology  decided  in  favour  of  the  appellants,  and  Blackwell 
condemned  the  judgment  as  injurious  to  the  Holy  See.  A  fresh 
appeal  from  the  Seculars  was  then  sent  to  the  Pontiff.  Persons  was,  of 
course,  in  the  thick  of  the  dispute  in  Rome,  the  political  bearing  of  the 
controversy  being  now  as  important  as  the  religious. 

2  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  p.  683. 


422  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

his  grasp,  they  told  him,  for  want  of  resolute  action. 
Persons  had  assured  the  Duke  of  Sessa  that  he  had 
means  for  gaining  to  his  side  certain  members  of 
the  English  Council,  and  this  was  acknowledged  to 
be  of  the  highest  importance,  but  still  no  prompt 
action  was  taken.  Persons  had  to  confer  with  Sessa, 
and  the  latter  had  to  communicate  with  Brussels 
and  Valladolid,  where  infinite  time  was  wasted  in 
discussion  and  in  the  King's  indecision.  And  so 
everything  on  the  Spanish  side  dragged  and  dragged 
whilst  all  other  interests  were  alert  and  working. 

But  these  intrigues,  impotent  on  the  one  side  and 
active  on  the  other,  give  us  a  clue  to  the  unsolved 
riddles  of  Essex's  fate  and  the  obscure  tragedies 
that  ushered  in  the  reign  of  James.  Exactly  how 
far  Essex  and  his  friends  were  pledged  to  the 
Franco-Scottish  intrigue  just  mentioned  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  say,  though,  as  he  was  in  close  and  confiden- 
tial communication  with  James,  as  the  latter  was 
with  the  French  King  and  the  Pope,  it  is  fair  to 
conclude  that  Essex  was  cognisant  of  the  whole 
plan,^  and  was  either  convinced  of  the  falsity  of 
James's  professions  of  Catholicism  or  was  content 
to  sacrifice  the  Protestant  cause  for  the  sake  of  his 
personal  ambition.  It  is  quite  as  certain,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  Persons,  probably  through  Garnet 
or  Blackwell,  had  some  sort  of  understanding  with 
a  group  of  English  nobles  who  professed  to  have 
gained,  or  to  be  able  to  gain,  some  of  the  members 
of  the  Coun.cil.      These  members,  of  course,  could 

*  It  must  not  be  forgotten  also  that  after  Essex's  revolt  Boissise,  the 
French  Ambassador,  interceded  with  the  Queen  for  him,  "  the  greatest 
friend  of  France  in  all  England." 


PEACE   NEGOTIATIONS  423 

only  be  those  of  the  moderate  party,  most  of  whom 
were  secret  Catholics  opposed  to  Essex  and  to  the 
French  or  Scottish  alliance/  The  Lord  Admiral, 
Cobham,  Pembroke,  Shrewsbury,  and  Cecil  belonged 
to  this  party,  and  these,  or  some  of  them,  must  be 
the  men  indirectly  alluded  to  by  Persons.  It  is  pro- 
bable that  some  whisper  of  these  communications 
may  have  reached  Essex,  and  have  given  him  the 
pretext  for  the  cry  he  raised  on  his  hare-brained 
attempt  at  revolution,  that  Cecil  and  his  party  had 
sold  England  to  the  Infanta. 

During  the  disgrace  of  Essex  after  his  return  from 
Ireland,  active  negotiations  for  peace  with  Spain 
were  proceeding.  As  invariably  was  the  case  when 
Scotland  and  France  drew  together,  Spain  and  Eng- 
land did  the  same.  Sir  Thomas  Edmunds  was  sent 
to  greet  the  Archduke  and  the  Infanta,  and  was 
received  with  unusual  honours,  and  in  February 
1600  Verreyken,  the  Flemish  envoy,  came  to  Eng- 
land, where,  says  Chamberlain,  the  Queen  received 
him  "  with  all  the  ceremonies  and  compliments  that 
could  be  devised."  Whilst  Essex  was  languishing  a 
prisoner  at  York  House  it  must  have  been  gall  and 
wormwood  for  him  to  hear  of  the  grand  feasts  with 
which  the  emissary  of  a  Spanish  prince  was  enter- 
tained at  the  English  court.  "  He  (Verreyken)  on 
Monday  and  Wednesday  sat  at  the  Lord  Treasurer's 
in  council  with  the  Lord  Treasurer,  the  Lord  Admiral, 
the    Lord    Chamberlain    (ELunsdon),    Mr,    Secretary 

^  I  consider  it  extremely  unlikely  that  the  Spanish  Jesuits'  plan  of 
winning  Essex  to  their  side  was  ever  seriously  undertaken.  From  the 
note  of  Bluet,  quoted  on  page  416,  it  is  plain  that  thourjh  Bagshaw 
was  anxious  to  obtain  particulars  for  the  purpose  of  damaging  Persona 
and  his  party,  the  accusation  rested  on  a  Himsy  foundation. 


424  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

(Cecil),  and  Sir  John  Fortesciie.  The  negotiation  is 
kept  very  close.  .  .  .  Our  discoursers  shoot  many 
bolts  in  this  business,  which  to  them  seems  so 
entangled  and  intricate  that  in  seeking  to  undo  one 
knot  they  make  two.  .  .  .  Whatsoever  the  reason 
is,  methinks  we  are  not  so  hot  on  this  peace  as  we 
were,  and  the  least  stop  in  such  a  cause  may  turn 
the  tide."  ^  There  were  many  considerations  which 
made  peace  difficult  of  arrangement,  but  in  good 
truth  the  desire  of  Cecil  was  not  so  much  peace — 
unless  indeed  on  such  terms  as  Spain  was  not  yet 
humble  enough  to  grant — as  the  appearance  of  a 
rapprochement  between  England  and  Spain  as  a 
countercheck  to  James's  Catholic  intrigues.  In 
March  Edmunds  was  again  sent  back  to  Flanders 
to  discuss  with  the  sovereigns  the  time  and  place  for 
a  conference,  whilst  "  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  attends  the 
ambassador  (Verreyken)  much,  and  carries  him  up 
and  down  to  see  the  sights  and  rarities  hereabouts. 
He  hath  had  him  at  Powles,  at  Westminster,  at 
Whitehall,  and  where  not.  This  day  he  is  feasted 
at  the  Lord  Treasurer's  and  to-morrow  at  the  Lord 
Chamberlain's,  where  methinkes  it  shold  be  some- 
what strange  to  see  carowses  to  the  King  of  Spaine's 
health."' 

At  length,  after  infinite  bickering  about  the  place 
of  meeting,  Boulogne  was  agreed  upon,  where  the 

^  Chamberlain's  Letters,  See  also  Eowland  Wliyte's  Letters  in  the 
Sidney  Papers,  which  give  a  glowing  account  of  the  festivities. 
Verreyken  lodged  at  the  house  of  Alderman  Baning  at  Dowgate, 
which  being  near  the  ancient  Gildhouse  of  the  Hanse,  was  the  quarter 
of  the  Easterlings. 

^  Ibid.,  March  5.  The  Lord  Chamberlain  Hunsdon,  the  Queen's 
first  cousin,  was  a  member  of  the  Puritan  party. 


NEGOTIATIONS   WITH   SPAIN        425 

English  Commissioners  arrived  in  the  middle  of 
May,  and  the  Flemings  and  Spaniards  shortly  after- 
wards.^ The  differences  were  quite  irreconcilable 
from  the  first,  for  Elizabeth  could  not  afford  to 
abandon  the  Dutch  unaided  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  Spain,  or  to  allow  them  to  seek  safety  by  appeal- 
ing to  France ;  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  Spain 
would  not  yet  acknowledge  herself  completely  beaten 
and  surrender  her  dream  of  Catholic  supremacy.  In 
fact,  however,  the  grave  issues  were  never  even  ap- 
proached by  the  conference.  The  principal  point  in 
the  instructions  of  the  Spanish  representative  was 
that  he  must  be  "very  circumspect  to  uphold  the 
dignity  and  prestige  of  our  King."  The  first  step 
taken  with  this  object  was  to  arrive  at  Boulogne 
after  the  English  envoys,  in  order  that  the  latter 
might,  as  Zuniga  says,  have  the  good  manners  to  pay 
the  first  visit.  But  the  Englishmen  were  on  their 
guard,  and  merely  sent  a  servant  to  exchange  copies 
of  powers.  Then  endless  haggling  by  correspond- 
ence took  place  as  to  the  style  to  be  given  to  the 
Archduke,  Serene  Highness  being  at  last  agreed 
to.  When,  however,  the  question  of  precedence  in 
the  mention  of  England  and  Spain  came  forward,  a 
deadlock  occurred.  "  They  are  so  obstinate,"  wrote 
Zuniga,    "  in  claiming  precedence,  notwithstanding 

1  Sir  John  Herbert,  Sir  Robert  Beale,  Thomas  Edmunds  (afterwards 
knighted),  and  Sir  Henry  Neville  were  the  English  representatives, 
Louis  Verreyken  and  President  Jehan  Richardot  the  Flemish,  and 
Baltasar  de  Zuniga  and  F'ernando  Carillo  the  Spanish.  A  full  account 
of  the  negotiations  will  be  found  in  Neville's  and  Winwood's  Corre- 
spondence (Winwood  Papers),  and  in  British  Museum,  Cotton.  Vesp. 
cviii.,  as  well  as  in  the  uncalendared  papers  of  the  date  at  Hatfield, 
the  French  Correspondence  in  the  Record  Office,  and  the  Spanish  State 
Papers  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


426  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

our  serious  arguments,  that  we  closed  the  colloquy, 
and  we  shall  not  again  enter  upon  the  matter."  The 
English  then  suggested  that  they  should  toss  up  or 
cast  lots  for  precedence,  which  greatly  shocked  the 
Spaniards,  as  being  undignified.  Much  discussion 
and  various  suggested  ingenious  expedients  followed 
to  get  over  the  difficulty,  the  most  hopeful  being  that 
the  meeting  should  be  held  in  the  lodgings  of  the 
Spanish  envoys,  who  then,  as  hosts,  would  give  their 
guests,  the  English,  the  place  of  honour.  But  this 
was  refused  by  the  English,  and  weeks  more  were 
wasted  whilst  instructions  came  from  the  respective 
Governments.  The  utter  hollowness  of  the  negotia- 
tion is  seen  by  the  view  taken  by  the  Spanish 
Council  of  State.  They  were  furiously  indignant 
with  Zuniga  and  Carillo  for  discussing  or  consider- 
ing the  English  claim  for  precedence,  or  even  for 
equality.  "  Such  a  claim,"  they  said,  "  had  never 
been  advanced  before,  and  it  is  not  befitting  so  great 
a  King  as  ours  that  it  should  be  listened  to  for  a 
moment."  So  the  envoys  were  smartly  reprehended, 
and  carefully  warned  to  admit  nothing  derogatory  to 
the  King's  dignity,  "which,"  said  the  Council,  "was 
so  fully  established  that  no  discussion  as  to  equality 
must  be  allowed."  The  temper  of  Elizabeth  and  her 
Government  was,  with  better  reason,  quite  as  firm  as 
that  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  deadlock  continued, 
both  sides  in  the  meanwhile  looking  to  events  in 
Ireland  and  Savoy  respectively  to  render  their  anta- 
gonists more  yielding. 

But  whilst  it  must  have  been  evident  almost  from 
the  first  that  nothing  would  come  of  the  negotia- 
tions,  Zuniga  made    good  use  of  his  opportunities 


THE   CATHOLICS   IN   ENGLAND     427 

for  plotting  and  planning  with  the  English  Catholics 
of  the  Jesuit  party.  He  wrote  to  his  King  in  Sep- 
tember 1600  :  "The  English  Catholics  andJesuits  in 
England  are  pressing  gravely  for  the  invasion  of 
England  to  be  undertaken,  which  they  say  they  can 
facilitate  by  means  of  the  Catholics  there.  This  will 
be  efiected  by  opening  negotiations  in  your  Majesty's 
name  with  some  leading  personages  ;  and  Zuniga 
says  that  they  (the  English  Catholics)  desire  above 
all  things  that  some  decision  should  be  adopted  with 
regard  to  the  succession,  as  they  are  very  distrust- 
ful as  to  whether  your  Majesty  will  take  the  matter 
up.  He  (Zuniga)  is  keeping  them  in  hand  as  well 
as  he  can,  but  arguments  are  no  longer  of  any  avail. 
The  Catholics  tell  him  that  the  Irish  enterprise  will 
not  be  of  much  use  in  the  English  affair ;  because, 
although  the  Irishmen  are  Catholics,  they  are  not  to 
be  trusted,  owing  to  their  ancient  enmity  against 
England.  Zuniga  himself  is  of  opinion  that  no 
money  can  be  better  spent  than  that  employed  in 
supporting  the  Earl  of  Tyrone."  ^ 

This  letter  from  Zuniga  was  seized  upon  by  the 
Spanish  Council  as  an  opportunity  for  once  more 
urging  their  slothful  King  to  action,  and  at  the 
same  time  they  made  a  noteworthy  admission  of  the 
wane  of  Spanish  power.  "  There  is  no  need,"  they 
wrote,  "to  discuss  the  enterprise  [i.e.  invasion)  pro- 
posed by  the  (English)  Catholics,  as  experience  has 
shown  the  impossibility  of  conquering  the  country 
from  here,  even  under  better  circumstances  than  at 
present ;  but,  in  order  to  keep  hold  of  the  English 
Catholics,  it  will  be  advisable  for  your  Majesty  to 

^  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


42  8  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

adopt  some  resolution  respecting  the  succession.  If 
this  be  not  done  in  good  time,  the  Catholics  may 
join  the  King  of  Scots  or  some  other  claimant." 
And  so  the  negotiations  for  peace  with  England 
simply  resolved  themselves  into  a  conspiracy  against 
her ;  but  it  answered  the  purpose  of  both  Govern- 
ments to  drag  them  out  for  their  respective  national 
objects. 

This  hollow  junketing  with  Spain,  from  which 
he,  of  course,  was  excluded,  seems  to  have  driven 
Essex  finally  to  despair.  Still  forbidden  from  the 
Queen's  presence,  though  in  the  autumn  he  had 
been  released  from  custody,  he  must  have  heard 
through  his  zealous  friends  and  spies  plentiful 
whispers  of  plots  to  counteract  the  Catholic  acti- 
vity of  the  King  of  Scots — plots  which,  if  they  were 
successful,  would  mean  his  own  ruin.  Father  Per- 
sons' talk  of  his  agreement  with  high  English 
Catholic  nobles,  and  Zuiiiga's  close  communications 
with  the  leaders  of  the  same  party,  can  hardly  have 
been  entirely  hidden  from  Essex,  and  drove  him 
onward  to  his  catastrophe.  By  means  of  the  papers 
quoted  in  these  pages  we  are  able,  perhaps  for  the 
first  time,  to  understand  how  futile  all  these  in- 
trigues were  rendered  by  the  sluggish  ineptitude  of 
the  Spanish  King  and  his  Government.  There  was, 
we  can  now  perceive,  no  danger  really  to  be  appre- 
hended from  plots  which  depended  for  their  exe- 
cution upon  the  decisions  of  Philip  III.  and  Lerma; 
but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  contemporaries 
were  not  able,  as  we  are,  to  see  the  hands  of  all  the 
players  at  the  great  game,  and  Essex,  doubtless, 
represented  many  of  his   countrymen,  especially  of 


ESSEX'S    REBELLION  429 

the  Puritan  party,  in  believing  that  the  work  of  the 
Reformation  was  to  be  undone,  and  England  sold 
to  Spain  and  the  Jesuits  by  Elizabeth's  principal 
Ministers. 

The  scope  of  this  book  does  not  admit  of  a  re- 
petition of  the  details  of  Essex's  foolish  attempt  at 
revolution,  but  it  will  be  necessary  to  glance  at  the 
accusations  brought  by  him,  and  against  him,  with 
regard  to  the  intended  betrayal  of  the  Protestant 
cause.  We  have  seen  sufficient  of  his  ambitious  and 
vindictive  temper  to  know  that  his  first  thought 
must  have  been  to  revenge  himself  upon  those  he 
hated,  and  to  secure  for  himself  at  least  the  dictator- 
ship of  England  ;  but  it  must  have  been  obvious, 
even  to  him,  blinded  by  his  popularity  as  he  was, 
that  some  better  cause  than  his  personal  aims  must 
be  alle(rcd  before  he  could  arouse  a  law-abiding 
people  to  rebellion.  The  not  unfounded  suspicions 
of  Spanish  intrigue,  to  which  I  have  referred,  gave 
him  the  cry  he  needed.  Whether  he  believed  them 
to  the  full  himself  matters  little  ;  if  he  could  make 
other  people  of  his  party  believe  them,  his  end  would 
be  served. 

After  his  liberation  in  August  he  tried  desperately 
to  regain  the  good  graces  of  the  Queen.  Lord 
Henry  Ploward,  his  false  friend,  who  betrayed  him, 
as  he  betrayed  every  other  creature  that  trusted  him, 
carried  to  the  Queen  abject  letters  of  submission  and 
despair  from  her  fallen  favourite.  The  Queen  dryly 
hoped  that  the  writer's  deeds  might  match  his  words, 
but  she  showed  no  signs  of  relenting.  In  October, 
we  are  told  by  Chamberlain,  the  friends  of  Essex 
were  trying  to  obtain  permission  for  him  to  join  the 


430  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

tilting  on  the  Queen's  birthday,  "and  they  are  very 
confident  to  see  him  shortly  in  favour.  You  may 
believe  as  much  of  it  as  you  list,  but  I  ne'er  a  whit, 
for  till  I  see  his  license  for  sweet  wines  renewed 
(that  expired  at  Michaelmas),  or  some  other  sub- 
stantial favour,  I  shall  esteem  words  as  wind  and 
holy  water  at  court."  When  Elizabeth  came  to 
understand  that  the  first  object  of  his  tearful  prayers 
was  to  obtain  a  renewal  of  his  sweet-wine  monopoly, 
her  heart  hardened  more  than  ever.  Penitence  and 
remorse,  that  he  might  gaze  upon  her  bewildering 
beauty  again,  was  of  course  natural,  and  might  in 
time  have  melted  her,  but  to  find  that  he  was  only 
hankering  after  money  aroused  her  rage,  and  she 
refused  his  hint  insultingly.  "  An  ungovernable 
beast,"  she  said,  "  must  be  stinted  of  his  provender," 
and  Essex,  thus  repulsed,  sought  for  favour  no  more. 
Thenceforward  his  only  chance  was  to  overturn 
by  force  and  destroy  all  the  men  who  surrounded 
the  Queen.  We  have  seen  that  he  had  appealed 
in  vain  to  his  successor  in  Ireland,  Montjoy,  to 
bring  over  the  Queen's  army  to  coerce  the  Queen's 
Government,  and  that  his  cry  for  aid  to  the  King 
of  Scots  had   been    answered  by  vague    promises.^ 


^  When  Montjoy  had  first  gone  to  Ireland  in  the  early  spring  of  1600 
(Essex's  fate  being  then  undecided),  he  had  sent  to  James,  offering  to 
bring  over  the  Queen's  troops  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  co-operat- 
ing with  the  Scottish  King's  forces  and  Essex,  for  the  removing 
Elizabeth's  advisers  and  securing  the  acknowledgment  of  James's  right 
to  the  succession,  with,  incidentally,  Essex's  future  paramountcy. 
James  hesitated  ;  for  he  did  not  really  wish  to  be  King  of  a  faction  or 
to  fight  against  his  futvue  subjects.  When  Essex,  later  in  the  year, 
urged  Montjoy  to  act  alone,  the  latter  naturally  refused  to  risk  his  head 
only  to  serve  Essex's  ambition  (Confessions  of  Sir  Charles  Danvers  and 
the  Earl  of  Southampton). 


ESSEX'S   REBELLION  431 

At  length,  however,  James  consented  to  send  a 
formal  embassy  to  demand  of  Elizabeth  the  recog- 
nition of  his  rights,  on  the  understanding  that 
Essex  should  seize  the  Government  by  a  coup  de 
main  at  the  same  time  and  force  the  Queen  to  con- 
sent.^ During  the  winter  of  1600-160 1  Essex  threw 
aside  the  attitude  of  love-lorn  despair,  which  had 
proved  ineffectual,  and  threw  open  the  doors  of 
Essex  House  to  the  members  of  the  advanced 
Puritan  party.  Violent  sermons  were  preached 
against  Rome  and  all  her  works ;  the  Earl's  old 
friends  and  adherents  flocked  to  his  anterooms, 
as  did  the  rabble  of  idle  captains  and  younger  sons, 
who  looked  to  him  for  advancement,  and  the  lead- 
ing citizens,  to  whom  the  very  name  of  Spain  was 
anathema ;  and  it  was  impossible  for  Cecil  to  shut 
his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  Essex  was  gathering  around 
him  the  elements  of  revolt. 

Whilst  this  was  going  on  at  Essex  House, 
the  leading  conspirators,  Essex,  Southampton,  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  Sir  Charles  Danvers,  and  others, 
matured  their  plans,  as  they  thought  secretly,  at 
Drury  House  hard  by.     The  Government,  however, 

^  The  instructions  suggested  by  Essex  to  be  given  by  James  to  his 
ambassador,  the  Earl  of  Mar,  are  important  as  showing  that  the  pre- 
text for  the  movement  was  to  be  mainly  religious.  Certain  of  her 
highest  Ministers,  the  Queen  was  to  be  told,  meant  to  take  advantage 
of  the  succession  being  open  to  ruin  the  country.  The  West  Country 
•was  commanded  by  Ralegh,  the  Cinque  Ports  by  Cobham.  The  navy 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord  Admiral,  the  Treasury  was  controlled  by 
the  Lord  Treasurer  (Buckhurst),  whilst  Cecil  had  placed  his  brother  as 
governor  of  the  north,  and  Sir  George  Carew  commanded  in  IVIunster, 
the  key  of  Ireland.  All  these  men  bear  malice  against  the  King  of 
Scots,  "  and  all  theyre  counsayles  and  endeavours  tend  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Infanta  of  Spayne  to  the  succession  to  the  crown."  The 
reason  for  these  assertions  is  given  at  length  in  Cuff's  confession. 


432  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

were  quite  cognisant  of  the  objects  of  the  con- 
spiracy, and  it  was  important  that  the  attempt 
should  be  nipped  in  the  bud  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Earl  of  Mar  with  James's  demands.  On  the 
7th  February  1601,  accordingly,  Essex  was  sum- 
moned by  Secretary  Herbert  to  appear  before  the 
Council,  but  excused  himself  from  attending  on  the 
plea  of  illness.  Gathering  his  principal  friends  at 
Drury  House  on  the  same  day,  he  told  them  that 
the  ajffair  was  discovered,  and  asked  them  whether 
they  would  move  thus  prematurely  or  submit. 
Dismay  sat  upon  every  brow,  and  there  was  a 
general  feeling  that  submission  would  be  the  wiser 
course.  A  message  from  Sheriff  Smyth  promising 
the  aid  of  1000  of  the  trained  band  of  the  city 
seems  to  have  turned  the  scale,  and  the  fatal 
decision  was  adopted  of  raising  the  cry  of  revolt 
early  next  morning.  The  original  plan  of  seizing 
Whitehall  by  surprise  was  now,  of  course,  impos- 
sible, as  the  Queen's  Guard  was  on  the  alert ;  but 
messengers  were  sent  through  the  city  in  the  even- 
ing, Saturday,  to  spread  the  news  that  Ralegh  and 
Cobham  intended  to  kill  the  Earl  of  Essex.  And 
early  on  Sunday  morning  the  8th  February  Essex's 
friends  Southampton,  Monteagle,  Sandys,  Rutland, 
and  300  gentlemen  met  at  Essex  House  with  the 
intention  of  riding  into  the  city,  and  arousing  the 
citizens  with  the  cry  that  England  was  sold  to  the 
Catholics,  and  that  the  people's  idol,  Essex,  was  to 
be  done  to  death  by  the  unpopular  Ralegh  and 
Cobham. 

Whilst  they  were  assembling  in  the  courtyard,  a 
message  came  from  Ralegh  to  his  kinsman  Gorges,. 


ESSEX'S    REBELLION  433 

asking  him  to  meet  him.  Kssex  consented  to  his 
doing  so,  if  the  interview  took  place  in  boats  on 
the  river.  There  Ralegh  solemnly  warned  Gorges 
of  his  danger,  but  without  avail,  for  "  I  told  him  that 
there  were  2000  gentlemen  who  had  resolved  that 
day  to  die  or  live  as  free  men."  A  committee  of  the 
Council  was  sent  to  Essex  House  to  summon  the 
assembly  to  disperse  in  the  name  of  the  Queen, 
'i'hey  found  the  great  courtyard  opening  from  the 
Strand  filled  with  armed  men,  amidst  whom  stood 
the  Earl ;  and  as  the  gate  closed  behind  the  Lords 
of  the  Council,  they  found  themselves  prisoners, 
with  a  threatening  crowd  surrounding  them.  After 
a  heated  harangue  of  complaint  and  accusation, 
Essex  led  the  Lords  into  the  house,  where  they  were 
kept  as  hostages,  whilst  the  misguided  conspirators, 
300  gallants  and  swashbucklers,  hot-gospellers  and 
riffraff,  trooped  into  the  City  through  Temple  Bar. 
"  For  the  Queen  !  for  the  Queen  !  "  they  cried  some- 
times ;  but  more  often  that  Ralegh  had  tried  to 
kill  Essex  and  that  England  had  been  sold  to  the 
Infanta.  The  citizens,  on  their  Avay  to  early  morn- 
ing service,  flocked  around  agape,  but  raised  no 
hand  and  few  cheers.  The  emissaries  of  the  Council 
sped  forward  to  warn  the  Lord  Mayor  of  his  dutj , 
aud  the  chief  magistrate,  being  at  service  at  St. 
Paul's,  ordered  Ludgate  to  be  closed.  But  when 
Essex  and  his  followers  appeared  before  the  closed 
gate,  and,  waving  his  sword,  the  Earl  told  his  story 
to  the  custodians,  he  was  granted  admission,  and 
rode  triumphantly  up  Ludgate  Hill  and  Cheapside. 
no  man,  so  far,  staying  him. 

Near   the   Exchange    was    the    house    of    Sheriff 

2  E 


434  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

Smyth,  his  mainstay  in  the  City;  but  before  the 
Earl  arrived  there  the  Sheriff  had  taken  fright  and 
had  rallied  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  for  on  the  steps  of  the 
Cross  of  Chepe,  Cecil's  brother,  Lord  Burghley,  with 
the  Lord  Mayor  by  his  side,  had,  in  the  Queen's 
name,  proclaimed  i^.ssex  and  his  followers  traitors, 
and  treason  was  no  light  matter  under  Elizabeth. 
Some  of  Essex's  men  had  charged  the  Queen's  ^osse, 
and  Burghley's  horse  was  killed  by  a  petronel 
shot ;  but  Essex  and  his  principal  friends  waited 
in  vain  in  Smyth's  house,  lingering  over  their  break- 
fast, until  the  Sheriff  should  return  with  his  trained 
bands.  As  he  came  not,  Essex  grew  uneasy,  and 
walked  up  Cheapside  into  St.  Paul's  Churchyard, 
still  doing  nothing  but  complaining  of  his  wrongs 
to  his  dwindling  band.  Whilst  he  was  thus  trifling 
the  City  was  arming.  Chains  were  run  across  the 
streets,  gates  were  shut,  and  armed  men  were  mus- 
tering, and  when  Essex,  thoroughly  alarmed,  at  three 
in  the  afternoon,  thought  of  returning  home,  he 
found  that  only  a  hundred  men  stood  by  him,  his 
way  was  barred,  and  the  cry  of  treason  followed  him 
as  he  rode.  Driven  back  from  Ludgate  Hill,  he  fled 
up  Watling  Street  and  Friday  Street  into  Chepe 
again  ;  but  all  were  against  him  there,  and,  galloping 
down  Bow  Lane  to  the  river,  he  took  boat  at  Queen- 
hithe  to  his  house  in  the  Strand. 

He  entered  his  water-gate  a  beaten  man :  the 
Lords  of  the  Council  had  been  released  by  his 
steward,  and  only  a  few  followers  were  with  him. 
His  first  care  was  to  take  from  his  neck  a  little 
black  taffeta  bag,  with  the  reply  of  King  James  to 
his  appeal  for  aid,  and  another  paper,  both  of  which 


TRIAL   OF   ESSEX  435 

he  burnt,  and  then  he  and  a  few  gentlemen  deter- 
mined to  fight  till  they  should  fall.  But  the  forces 
against  them  were  too  strong  ;  the  house  was  beset 
by  land  and  water,  and  presently  the  Lord  Admiral 
carried  the  gardens  and  banqueting-house.  At  nine 
o'clock  at  night  two  great  guns  were  dragged  to  the 
main  doorway,  and  then,  after  some  parley,  Essex 
and  his  deluded  friends  surrendered,  and  the  next 
morning  the  Traitor's  Gate  in  the  Tower  received 
them,  whilst  their  followers  found  in  arms  were  sent 
to  the  common  jail.^ 

On  February  19  Essex  and  Southampton  were 
arraigned  at  Westminster  before  a  court  of  twenty- 
six  peers,  Cecil,  who  was  only  a  knight  as  yet, 
listening  to  all  that  passed,  hidden  behind  an  arras. 
The  accusations  against  the  prisoner  were  confined 
to  the  narrowest  limits  possible  to  secure  his  convic- 
tion on  the  capital  offence  of  treason.  The  Govern- 
ment by  this  time  were  aware  of  the  complicity  both 
of  James  and  Montjoy,  and  unless  they  were  prepared 
to  disqualify  the  former  from  the  succession,  and 
risk  a  military  revolt  of  the  latter,  they  dared  not 
emphasise  this  grave  element  in  the  case.  Essex 
throughout  his  trial  loudly  and  wordily  protested  his 
loyalty  to  the  Queen.  His  intention  was,  he  said, 
to  remove  the  advisers  who  were  bent  upon  ruining 
her  country  by  bringing  in  the  Infanta ;  and  as  a 
proof  of  this  he  let  slip  a  remark  which  gave  occa- 

'  Some  few  days  afterwards  Captain  Tliomas  Lea  conceived  a  plot 
for  seizing  the  Privy  Chamber  of  Whitehall  by  surprise  and  coercing 
the  Queen  to  sicjn  an  order  for  the  release  of  Essex  and  his  friends. 
He  foolishly  divulged  the  plot  to  Sir  H.  Neville  and  Sir  Robert  Cross, 
who  informed  Cecil  of  it.  Lea  was  at  once  arrested,  and  executed 
February  17,  1601. 


436  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

siou  for  a  startling  and  dramatic  scene,  in  which 
practically  the  fates  respectively  of  Essex  and  Cecil 
were  sealed.  He  had  been  told,  he  said,  that  Secre- 
tary Cecil  had  observed  to  one  of  the  councillors 
"that  the  Infanta's  title  was  as  good  as  that  of  any 
other  person."  ^  In  a  moment  Cecil  sprang  from 
behind  the  arras,  and  dropping  on  one  knee,  prayed 
the  court  to  allow  him  to  clear  himself  of  **  so  foul 
and  false  a  report."  The  peers  thought  there  was 
no  need  of  it ;  but  Cecil  persisted,  and  in  vehement 
speech  dared  Essex  to  name  his  informant.  After 
some  evasion  the  name  was  given  by  Southampton — 
Sir  William  Knollys,  the  uncle  of  Essex,  and  a 
cousin  of  the  Queen.  Cecil  pressed  that  the  Queen 
might  be  prayed  to  send  Knollys  to  the  tribunal 
immediately,  without  stating  why  he  was  required, 
and  swore,  on  his  salvation,  that  if  the  Queen  sent 
him  not,  he  (Cecil)  would  never  more  be  Minister  of 
hers.  In  breathless  suspense  the  proceedings  were 
delayed  for  Knollys'  appearance,  and  when  he  came 
all  present  knew  that  the  word  he  was  to  speak 
must  ruin  either  Essex  or  Cecil.     His  answer  was 


1  The  counter-accusation  against  Essex,  tliat  he  was  in  league  with 
Spain,  was,  on  the  other  hand,  industriously  spread  about  by  Cecil  and 
his  party  on  equally  slight  foundation.  Chamberlain  writes  in  surprise 
(February  24)  that  none  of  these  accusations  were  included  in  the 
charge.  "  I  must  say  that  one  thing  stickes  much  in  men's  mindes, 
that  whereas  divers  preachers  were  commanded  the  Sonday  before  to 
deliver  to  the  people,  amongst  his  other  treasons,  that  he  had  corn- 
plotted  with  Tirone  and  was  reconciled  to  the  Pope  .  .  .  and  that  he 
had  practised  by  the  meanes  of  seminary  priests  with  the  Pope  and  the 
King  of  Spaine  to  be  King  of  England,  there  was  no  such  matter  once 
mentioned  in  his  arraignment."  We  know  now  that  the  two  last  of 
these  loose  accusations  were  untrue.  They  probably  rested  mainly 
upon  the  statements,  already  mentioned,  of  the  secular  priests  anxious 
to  injure  the  Jesuits. 


CECIL'S    DECLARATION  437 

clear.  "  I  never  heard  him  (Cecil)  speak  words  to 
that  effect."  On  the  contrary,  he  cited  instances 
in  which  Cecil  had  referred  to  the  King  of  Spain's 
claim  as  "  impudent."  Essex's  sole  good  pretext  for 
his  rebellion  was  thus  cut  from  under  his  feet.  He 
apologised  to  Cecil,  but  all  was  of  no  avail  now,  for 
Knollys'  evidence  showed  that  his  revolt  was  founded 
on  a  lie.  Then  Cecil,  with  passion  unusual  to  him, 
made  a  pronouncement,  which,  if  men  could  have 
read  the  hidden  meaning  of  it,  would  have  shown 
them  the  road  he  meant  to  take.  "  I  have  said,"  he 
exclaimed,  "that  the  King  of  Spain  is  a  competitor 
for  the  crown  of  England,  and  that  the  King  of 
Scots  is  a  competitor,  and  my  Lord  of  Essex,  I  have 
said,  is  a  competitor,  for  he  would  depose  the  Queen 
and  call  a  parliament  and  so  be  King  himself;  but, 
as  to  my  affection  to  advance  a  Spanish  title  to 
England,  I  am  so  far  from  it  that  my  mind  is  asto- 
nished to  think  of  it,  and  I  pray  God  to  consume 
me  where  I  stand  if  I  hate  not  the  Spaniard  as 
much  as  any  man  living." 

So  whilst  Essex  and  his  friends  went  forth  to 
their  death,  his  rival  cleared  his  position  to  the 
extent  of  completely  disavowing  the  Infanta's  candi- 
dature. Of  the  three  claimants  mentioned  by  him, 
one  he  thus  vehemently  repudiated,  another  stood 
before  him  a  convicted  and  condemned  traitor,  and 
the  third,  James  Stuart,  was  inferentially  invited  to 
bid  for  his  support.  And  yet  very  few  men  under- 
stood this  at  the  time. 


CHAPTER  Xni 

The  change  in  the  succession  question  in  consequence  of  the  death  of 
Essex — The  secret  understanding  between  James  and  Cecil — 
James's  new  attitude  towards  the  <  "atholics — Lord  Montjoy  in 
Ireland — -Occupation  of  Derry — Disappointment  uf  Tyrone  and 
O'Donnell  with  Spain — La  Cerda's  mission  to  Ireland  —  Pre- 
parations for  a  new  Spanish  expedition  to  Ireland— Carew  in 
Munster  —  Sailing  of  the  expedition  —  O'SuUivan  Beare  —  The 
Spaniai'ds  in  Kinsale — The  siege — The  Spaniards  isolated  in 
Kinsale,  Castlehaven,  Dunboy,  and  Baltimore — Defeat  of  Tyrone 
— Capitulation  of  Kinsale — The  O'Sullivans  and  Dunboy — O'Don- 
nell in  Spain — Death  of  O'Donnell — Exodus  of  the  O'Sullivans, 
pardon  of  Tyrone,  and  the  pacification  of  Ireland. 

The  disappearance  of  Essex  from  the  scene  com- 
pletely changed  the  position  of  the  succession  ques- 
tion. Essex  had,  in  his  secret  correspondence  with 
James,  persistently  represented  Cecil  as  the  King's 
enemy.  It  had  always  been  the  policy  of  the  mode- 
rate party  in  England  to  promote  a  close  friendship 
with  Spain  and  Flanders,  as  a  counterbalance  to  the 
traditional  union  of  France  with  Scotland  ;  and  the 
younger  Cecil  in  this  had  followed  the  footsteps  of 
his  father.  But  that  either  of  them  had  the  slightest 
intention  of  subjecting  England  to  Spanish  interests, 
or  of  favouring  Catholic  supremacy,  as  Essex  averred, 
is  untrue.  Yet  whilst  Essex,  with  his  vindictive 
personal  jealousy  and  political  ambition,  took  the 
zealous  Protestant  party  as  the  tool  to  serve  his 
ends,  Cecil  was  obliged  to  lean   for  support,  as  his 

father  had  done,  upon  the  nobles  and  gentry  whose 

438 


CFXIL'S   PROBLEM  439 

sympathies  were  more  or  les.s  avowedly  Catholic, 
tempered  mainly  by  a  desire  to  retain  the  vast  landed 
estates  they  held  from  the  plunder  of  the  Church. 
This  party  had  many  reasons  for  disliking  the  idea 
of  a  Scottish  King.  They  had  always  looked  upon 
Scotland  as  an  inferior  and  semi-subject  country, 
and  upon  Scotsmen  as  uncivilised  Ijoors  of  predatory 
and  murderous  habits  ;  the  levelling  tenets  of  the 
Scottish  Presbyterian  clergy  filled  them,  moreover, 
with  alarm,  and  many  of  them  would  frankly  have 
preferred  a  pure  Catholic  domination  under  a  native 
sovereign  to  the  acknowledgment  of  James  as  their 
King.  Cecil  could  not  afford  to  do  without  the 
support  of  these  men  ;  and  yet  he  saw  that  the 
attempt  to  bring  in  any  other  sovereign  than  James 
on  the  Queen's  death  could  only  succeed  if  aided 
by  foreign  forces,  which  would  mean  civil  war  and 
the  almost  certain  subversion  of  Protestantism. 

The  problem  before  him  was  an  extremely  difficult 
one.  He  Avas  now  by  far  the  most  powerful  man  in 
England, — "King  in  effect,"  James  called  him  in  his 
instructions  to  the  Earl  of  Mar ;  but  still  his  power 
in  a  great  measure  depended  upon  the  Queen's  good 
opinion  of  him  and  the  support  of  the  moderate 
party.  Eor  him  to  have  openly  favoured  the  King 
of  Scots  would  have  deeply  offended  Elizabeth,  who 
was  determined  to  have  no  successor  legally  acknow- 
ledged in  her  lifetime,  and  would  also  have  driven 
the  nobles,  upon  whom  he  depended,  into  schemes 
from  which  he  would  be  excluded.  The  only  course 
by  which  England  could  be  saved  from  civil  war 
and  the  Protestant  C'hurch  preserved  from  destruc- 
tion was  for  Cecil  secretly  to  reassure  James  of  his 


440  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

lidelity  and  wean  him  from  his  Catholic  dependence, 
whilst  Cecil  kept  in  close  touch  with  his  own  party 
opposed  to  James,  for  the  purpose  of  being  able  at 
the  critical  moment  to  subvert  their  plans. ^  This 
was  the  course  that  Cecil  took,  and  in  doing  so 
he  not  only  betrayed  and  ruined  Catholics  like 
his  brother-in-law  Cobham,  but  men  of  whom  he 
was  personally  jealous,  such  as  Ealegh  and  Grey, 
who  were  really  stronger  Protestants  than  he  was 
himself. 

James's  ambassadors,  the  Earl  of  Mar  and  Edward 
Bruce,  lingered  on  their  way  south  until  after  the 
head  of  Essex  fell,  and  they  did  not  reach  London 
until  March  1601.  Their  instructions  were  greatly 
modified  from  those  originally  suggested  by  Essex, 
but  they  were  to  still  urge  the  Queen  to  acknow- 
ledge James's  right,  and  more  forcibly  to  threaten 
Cecil  and  his  party  with  vengeance  if  they  opposed 
him,  whilst  to  Cecil  especially  they  were  to  promise 
James's  favour  for  his  timely  aid.  The  instructions 
were  never  carried  out ;  for  the  ambassadors,  Bruce 
notably,  were  cleverer  than  their  King.  They  saw 
in  London  how  untrue  had  been  Essex's  libels  upon 
the  ('ecil  party  of  favouring  the  Spanish  domination 
of  England,  and  heard  how  Cecil  had  vehemently 
disavowed  the  King  of  Spain  at  Essex's  trial,  and 
they  accordingly  got  into  touch   secretly  with  the 

^  Cecil  on  one  occasion  was  afraid  that  -James  might  be  offended  at 
his  consorting  with  his  enemies,  but  the  King  thus  reassured  him  :  "  I 
hairtely  praye  you  to  assure  youre  self,  that  ye  can  have  no  dealing 
quhatsumever  with  jewe,  gentile  or  heathen,  that  ever  will  breede  the 
least  suspition  in  me  of  any  crakke  in  your  integretie  towards  me  ; 
but  by  the  contraire  the  further  ye  are  upon  thaire  secreats,  the  more 
abil  will  I  be  to  sitt  as  a  godd  upon  all  the  imaginations  of  theire 
heartes"  (Correspondence  of  James  and  Cecil,  Camden  Society), 


AGREEMENT  OF  JAMES  AND  CECIL     441 

all-powerful  Secretary.  Lord  Henry  Howard,  who 
had  been  the  go-between  of  Essex  and  James,  appears 
to  have  been  the  first  promoter  of  the  arrangement ; 
and  at  a  meeting  between  Cecil  and  the  Scotsmen 
at  Cecil's  House  in  the  Strand,  the  terms  were  agreed 
upon,  and  a  cypher  for  tlie  correspondence  arranged. 
Cecil's  conditions  were  that  he  would  assure  the 
peaceful  succession  to  James  if  the  latter  would 
trust  him,  and  cease  all  endeavours  to  obtain  the 
recognition  of  his  rights  during  the  Queen's  life. 
The  correspondence  between  them  was  to  be  kept 
inviolably  secret,  and  the  extraordinary  precaution 
was  taken  of  sending  it  all  by  way  of  Ireland  to 
divert  suspicion.^ 

Our  main  concern  at  present  with  this  most  in- 
teresting correspondence  is  to  mark  how  completely 
it  changed  eTames's  policy  towards  the  Catholics.  He 
was  now  all  amiability  to  the  Queen,  he  ceased 
pestering  her  about  the  succession,  and  he  discoursed 
quite  eloquently  of  the  foolishness  and  wicked- 
ness of  any  suggestion  that  he  could  ever  turn 
his  arms  against  England,  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
he  had  been  so  eager  to  do  a  little  Avhile  previously." 
All    irritating    embassies    and     activities    with    the 

'  This  extraordinary  correspondence,  which  was  kept  up  until  the 
Queen's  death,  is  publislied  entire  by  the  Camden  Society.  Cecil,  on 
one  occasion  at  least,  solemnly  denied  that  any  understanding  existed 
between  him  and  James,  and  to  the  last  the  secret  was  well  kept. 

2  Nicholson,  the  English  agent  in  Scotland,  in  a  letter  to  Cecil  at 
Hatfield,  tells  the  story  at  this  period  of  how  James  rebuked  the  Laird 
of  Kinnard,  in  whose  houst-  he  was  staying  on  his  proi;ress.  The  Laird 
drank  to  the  speedy  union  of  the  two  kingdoms,  and  said  he  had  forty 
muskets  ready  ;  whereupon  the  King  told  him  it  was  very  wrong  to 
wish  such  a  thing,  "but  in  Codes  tyme.'  Kinnard  was  not  in  the 
secret,  and  no  doubt  wondered  at  the  King's  change  of  tone. 


442  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Catholic  powers  were  stopped,  and  James  thence- 
forward, with  growing  confidence  in  Cecil's  strength 
and  -wisdom,  was  content  to  await  the  death  of  the 
Queen  rather  than  "by  climbing  of  hedges  and 
ditches  for  pulling  of  unripe  fruit  to  hazard  the 
breaking  of  my  neck."  Incidentally  the  falsity  and 
baseness  of  the  man  are  shovvu  in  a  vivid  light.  We 
have  seen  some  of  his  cringing  approaches  to  Spain 
and  his  devout  professions  of  Catholicism  when  he 
thought  such  a  course  suited  his  interests ;  yet  when 
Cecil  asked  his  advice  as  to  proceeding  with  the 
peace  negotiations  with  Spain,  the  King  strongly 
urged  that  no  peace  should  be  made,  because  the 
prospects  of  his  succession  might  be  prejudiced  by 
the  new  friendship  and  by  the  possible  presence  in 
England  of  Spanish  agents,  "  Jesuites,  seminarie 
priests,  and  that  rable,  quhairwith  England  is 
already  toe  muche  infected,  who  would  then  re- 
sort there  in  such  suarmes  as  the  katerpillers  or 
flyes  did  in  ^gipte."  The  King  took  this  oppor- 
tunity of  giving  to  Cecil  an  account  of  what  he 
dignified  by  the  name  of  his  religion.  Warning  him 
of  the  large  number  of  priests  who  were  allowed  un- 
molested to  remain  in  England,  he  says,  "  I  protest 
in  Goddi's  presence,  the  daily  increase  that  I  hear  of 
Popery  in  England,  and  the  proude  vanterie  that  the 
Papists  daily  make  ...  is  the  cause  that  moves  me 
to  break  forth  in  this  digression." 

Cecil  knew  better  than  James  that  the  English 
Catholics  must  not  be  driven  to  desperation  at  that 
juncture,  and  replied  that  he,  too,  detested  priests 
and  their  doctrines,  "  only  I  confess  that  I  shrinke 
to   see  them  dye  by  dozens  when  at  the  last  gasp 


JAMES'S   NEW   ATTITUDE  443 

they  come  so  neere  loyalty.  .  .  .  But  contrariwise 
for  that  generation  of  vypars,  the  Jesuits,  who  make 
no  more  than  ordinary  merchandise  of  the  blood  and 
crowns  of  princes,  1  am  so  far  from  any  compassion, 
as  I  would  rather  look  to  receive  command  from  you 
to  abstain  than  to  prosecute."  It  is  noteworthy,  too, 
in  this  secret  letter,  that  Cecil  repudiates  all  ideas 
of  toleration  for  the  Catholics,  and  only  asks  that 
*'  some  charitable  relief  should  be  used  in  prison  or 
beyond  sea"  to  those  priests  who  have  proved  by 
acts  their  loyalty  to  the  Government  and  to  the 
claims  of  James.  Thus,  so  far  as  the  King  of  Scots 
and  Cecil  are  concerned,  the  plot  is  laid  bare  :  both 
of  them  hated  priests  and  repudiated  toleration  ;  but 
for  the  furtherance  of  their  aims,  "loyal"  Catholics 
were  to  be  dealt  with  mildly,  in  order  that  they 
might  expect  toleration  from  a  King  who  had  so 
often  avowed  himself  a  Catholic,  and  whose  utter 
baseness  they  did  not  yet  know. 

The  interests  were  thus  gradually  naiTowing. 
James  dropped  out  of  the  international  intrigue ; 
the  Spanish  Council  acknowledged  the  impossibility 
of  invading  either  England  or  Scotland  direct ;  and 
thenceforward  Spain  could  only  work  through  Ire- 
land, or  through  the  English  Catholics,  who  disliked 
the  idea  of  a  Scottish  king  of  England.  When 
Montjoy  had  landed  in  Ireland  early  in  1600,  he  had 
found  the  Avhole  country  except  the  Pale  and  the 
walled  towns  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels.  Though 
the  fastidious  young  lord  had  seen  comparatively 
little  fighting,  which  was  the  fault  of  the  Queen 
rather  than  his  own,  he  was  a  theoretical  soldier  of  a 
high  order,  and  seized  at  once  upon  the  tactical  needs 


444  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

of  the  situation.  His  army  was  small,  not  exceeding 
14,000  English  infantry,  mostly  of  very  inferior 
quality,  and  some  1 500  horse,  and  he  could  not  hope 
to  march  a  sufficiently  powerful  force  by  land  through 
trackless  Ulster  to  beat  Tyrone  in  his  own  fastness. 
Munster  was  in  different  case.  There  the  sturdy 
veteran,  Sir  George  Carew,  had  a  free  hand,  by 
severity  and  conciliation  alternately,  to  bring  the 
province  back  again  to  its  obedience.  The  smaller 
chiefs  were  not  overjoyed  at  the  re-erection  by 
Tyrone  of  the  feudal  princes,  M'Carty  More  and 
Desmond,  and  the  hold  of  the  former,  at  least,  over 
his  clan  was  sufficiently  precarious  for  him  to  han- 
ker after  the  recognition  of  the  Queen's  Government, 
who  were  inclined  to  favour  his  kinsman,  Donnell, 
the  chief  chosen  by  the  clansmen  themselves  before 
Tyrone's  interference.  By  working  upon  the  greed 
and  ambition  of  these  rival  chieftains,  and  others  in 
like  case  all  over  Munster,  Carew  managed  before 
the  end  of  the  year  to  drive  M'Carty  and  most  of  the 
other  Munster  chiefs  into  a  sulky  and  shifty  obedi- 
ence,^ whilst  the  Siigan  Earl  of  Desmond  lurked 
in  hiding  with  a  few  followers. 

But  Montjoy  could  not  deal  thus  with  the  north 
and  west.  The  base  of  Tyrone's  position  was  Lough 
Foyle,  and  that  of  O'Donnell,  Ballyshannon,  be- 
cause their  supplies  of  munitions  of  war  and  other 

1  Carew  writes  to  Cecil,  January  15,  1601  (Irish  State  Papers,  208, 
uncaleiidared),  advocating  a  decided  policy  of  conciliation  with  the 
Munster  chiefs,  with  a  general  pardon.  ''  I  do  not  know  any  one  man 
of  quality  in  Munster  who  was  not  bound  by  his  oath  upon  the  Sacra- 
ment to  assist  the  rebellion,  though  some  have  more  openly  declared 
themselves  than  others."'  Full  particulars  of  Carew's  campaign  in 
Munster  will  be  found  in  "  Pacata  Hibernia  "  and  the  Carew  Calendars. 


MONTJOY    IN    IRELAND  445 

necessaries  from  abroad  could  reach  them  there  alone 
with  safety ;  and  only  by  means  of  a  force  conveyed 
by   water  could   the   English    hope    successfully   to 
attack  them.     Whilst,  therefore,    Montjoy    made   a 
feint  of  marching  against  Ulster  by  land,  a  force  of 
4000  foot,  200  horse,  and  3  guns,  under  Sir  Henry 
Docwra,   sailed  to   Lough   Foyle   and   succeeded   in 
fortifying  themselves   at   Derry   (May   1600).      The 
second  part   of  the  programme,   the   occupation   of 
Ballyshannon    on    Donegal    Bay,    commanding    the 
string  of  lakes  which  stretch  right  into  Connaught, 
was  not  then  possible,  as   Montjoy  was  obliged  to 
return  into  Leinster  to  suppress  the  fresh  risings  of 
O'Byrnes  and  O'Tooles  there.     The  seizure  of  Lough 
Foyle,  however,  struck  a  shrewd  blow  at  Tyrone,  for 
he  dared  not  now  take  too  large  a  force  elsewhere, 
for  fear  of  seeing  his  own  principality  overrun   by 
the  men  from  Derry  ;  ^  and  Montjoy  was  able  before 
the  end  of  the  year  to  bring  much  of  Ireland,  outside 
Ulster  and  Donegal,  into  at  least  nominal  obedience. 
We  have  seen  (page  407)  that,   notwithstanding 
the  peremptory   orders  of  Philip   IIL  to  the  eflfect 
that  a  powerful  force  should  be  sent  from  Spain  at 
once   to   aid  the  Irish  rebels,   all  the  summer  and 
autumn   of   1600    had    been   frittered   away    by  his 
officers,  and  by  the  end  of  November  1600  not  even 
the  small  preliminary  supply  of  money  and  biscuit 
had  been  despatched  from  Lisbon.     Apparently,  how- 
ever, owing  to  the  renewed  prayers  of  Tyrone's  envoy, 

1  Fenton  writes  to  Cecil  on  the  ist  January  1601  that  "  Tyrone  is 
not  a  little  gravelled  to  see  Leinster  in  hazard  to  be  gott  from  him  " 
(Irish  State  Papers,  208,  iincalendared).  In  the  same  letter  Fenton  says 
that  Tyrone  remains  in  the  south  j)art  of  his  country  "attending  on 
Lough  Foyle." 


446  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

Richard  Owen,  a  great  effort  was  then  made,  and 
early  in  December  "  two  tall  ships "  sailed  from 
Lisbon  with  Don  Martin  de  la  Cerda  on  board, 
taking  with  him  10,000  ducats  in  money  and  a 
quantity  of  weapons  and  munitions  of  war.  As 
usual,  the  most  exaggerated  and  alarming  news  was 
spread  in  Ireland  as  to  the  strength  of  the  expedi- 
tion, but  thanks  to  Teuton's  desire  to  '"beat  out  the 
truth"  and  to  the  report  of  his  trusty  spy,  we  are  in 
a  position  to  know  exactly  what  happened^  when  La 
Cerda  sailed  into  Donegal  Bay.  There  promptly 
came  to  greet  him  not  only  O'Donnell,^  but  Tyrone 
himself  from  Dungannon,  O'Rourke,  MacWilliam 
Bourke,  O'Connor  Sligo,  Hugh  Mostyn,  and  other 
chiefs.  They  had,  they  told  the  King's  officer, 
already  despaired  of  help  from  Spain,  and  O'Donnell, 
much  as  he  was  needed  in  Ireland,  was  on  the  point 
of  himself  sailing  to  make  a  last  appeal  to  the 
King.'^  The  Queen's  troops  had  overrun  Ireland 
during  the  summer  and  the  Catholic  cause  was 
reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  they  told  La  Cerda, 
but  if  their  sovereign,  King  Philip,  would  send 
them,  without  fail,  at  least  5000  infantry  before 
July  they  could  hold  out  in  Ulster  and  the  west  till 
then. 

When,  however,  Philip's  two  short  Latin  letters 


1  Fenton  to  Cecil,  January  20,  1601  (Irish  State  Papers,  208,  uii- 
calendared). 

-  Tyrone  quarrelled  with  O'Donnell  because  he  went  on  board  the 
Spanish  ship  and  had  speech  with  La  Cerda  before  Tyrone  arrived  at 
Donegal.  The  money,  arms,  &c.,  were  divided,  one  half  going  to  Tyrone* 
and  the  other  half  between  the  rest  of  the  chiefs  (Irish  State  Papers,  208, 
uncalendared). 

^  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.  (Simancas). 


SPAIN    AND   THK    IRISH    REBELS     447 

were  opened  with  much  ceremony  and  read  by 
Tyrone  and  O'Donnell,  disappointment  again  fell 
upon  them.  There  were  only  a  few  lines  in  each 
letter  of  vague  sympathy  and  exhortation  to  stand 
iirm,  with  the  same  general  promise  of  aid  that  had 
been  made  and  broken  so  often  before.  "  Where- 
upon O'Donnell  was  like  a  madd  man,  when  he  saw 
no  kinde  of  news  neither  of  men  or  money  to 
come,  and  presentlie  swore  he  would  go  himself  to 
Spain,  and  would  indeede  have  gone,  if  the  captain 
of  the  Spaniards  had  suffered  him.  The  Spaniard, 
seeing  O'Donnell  and  the  rest  so  angry,  he  told 
O'Donnell  that  he  wronged  himself,  for,  said  he,  you 
thinke  that  if  the  King  send  here  an  armie  that  he 
will  let  you  or  any  one  else  know  it  ?  No  !  nor  the 
Council  of  Spaine  shall  not  know  it.  For  so,  may- 
hap, intelligence  shall  goe  into  England  and  so 
draw  an  armie  against  us,  and  this  is  the  cause  that 
none  shall  know  what  he  meaneth  to  do."  ^  With 
this  comforting  suggestion  of  La  Cerda,  the  chiefs 
were  only  half  satisfied,  for  of  excuses  they  had  had 
more  than  enough.  So  they  settled  to  send  back  the 
Spanish  Archbishop  of  Dublin  and  Tyrone's  confessor, 
Father  Chamberlain,  to  add  their  verbal  prayers  to 
the  letters  to  the  King  which  were  carried  by  La 
Cerda.  "  But  by  God,"  swore  Tyrone  to  Fenton's  spy, 
"  I  have  no  longer  any  hope  of  help  from  the  King 
of  (Spain,  although,  peradventure,  he  will  send  us  a 
shippe  with  as  much  as  he  did  now  to  feede  us,  for 
the  King  of  France  is  at  Avar  with  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  whom  the  King  of  Spaine  will  help,  and  so 
will  have  no  men  to  spare  this  year."  ^ 

'  Irish  State  Papers,  208,  uucalendared.  ^  Jbid. 


448  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

Tyrone  was  truly  in  evil  case  just  then.  His 
cattle  were  now  but  few,  and  of  corn,  bread,  or 
butter  he  had  none.  The  strong  English  garrison 
at  Lough  Foyle  was  a  sharp  thorn  thrust  deeply  into 
his  side,  and  the  policy  of  keeping  an  English  ship 
or  two  on  the  Irish  coast  was  stopping  his  supplies  by 
sea.  His  communications  with  Munster  were  almost 
cut  off.^  John  of  Desmond,  the  fugitive  Earl's 
brother,  had  come  to  Donegal  to  pray  for  aid  from 
the  chiefs,  who  agreed  to  send  O'Rourke's  brother 
with  looo  men  to  the  Earl's  rescue,"  whilst  Montjoy 
now  had  Leinster  well  in  hand,  and  the  Pale  was 
safe  from  incursions,  James  Stuart,  moreover,  no 
longer  smiled  upon  the  rebel  chief,  and  it  must  have 
been  evident  to  Tyrone  that  his  only  hope  of  ulti- 
mate success  now  lay  iu  the  questionable  arrival  of 
powerful  aid  from  Spain.  The  bulls  he  had  received 
from  the  Pope,  from  which  such  great  results  were 
expected,  had  fallen  fiat,  for  the  real  root  of  the 
movement,  in  the  case  of  the  chiefs,  was  territorial 
rather  than  religious,  and  they  held  (when  it  suited 
them)  that  Rome  had  no  power  to  dissolve  their 
allegiance  to  their  sovereign,  the  Queen  of  England, 
who  made  no  serious  attempt,  moreover,  to  interfere 
with  their  religious  observances.^ 

1  The  Spanish  Archbishop,  writing  to  the  Sugan  Earl  of  Desmond, 
who  was  in  hiding,  bidding  him  farewell  (January  13),  says  he  should 
have  gone  personally  to  him,  but  he  could  not  go  without  an  army 
("  Pacata  Hibernia"). 

'^  This  desperate  attempt  of  Tyrone  to  force  a  way  down  to  Munster 
was  frustrated  by  Carew,  who  reinforced  Limerick  and  held  the  line  of 
the  Shannon  ("  Pacata  Hibernia"). 

^  It  is  related  in  "Pacata  Hibernia"  that  certain  Munster  Catholics 
sent  to  Rome  at  this  time  priests  to  purchase  from  the  Pope  absolution 
for  abstaining  from  helping  the  Catholic  cause. 


CRISIS   OF   THF:   IRISH    CAUSE        449 

The  Irish  cause,  therefore,  was  now  at  its  turning- 
point.  If  aid  came  from  Spain  promptly  and  strong, 
Ulster,  at  all  events,  might  retain  its  autonomy  under 
O'Neil  and  the  old  Irish  tradition  ;  if  it  came  not, 
then  Tyrone  must  make  the  best  terms  he  could  with 
the  Queen's  Government. 

La  Cerda,  with  the  Spanish  .Vrchbishop  and  the 
Irish  chieftains'  letters,  arrived  in  Spain  towards  the 
end  of  January  1601  at  a  favourable  juncture,  for  the 
war  between  France  and  Savoy  had  just  come  to  an 
end,  and  the  Spanish  infantry  that  had  been  raised 
to  help  Savoy  was  not  now  needed.  The  Archbishop 
pleaded  eloquently  for  the  Irish.  "The  country," 
he  said,  "  and  especially  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell  and 
the  rest  of  the  Catholics,  now  stood  in  imminent 
peril,  and  there  was  a  danger  of  the  entire  extinction 
of  the  faith  and  obedience  to  the  Church  which  they 
had  hitherto  upheld  with  so  much  bravery  and  blood- 
shed." He  submitted  the  "  grave  prejudice  which 
would  thereby  be  suffered  by  Christendom  at  large, 
and  expressed  deep  sorrow  that,  after  they  had  ex- 
posed themselves  to  so  much  jeopardy  in  the  service 
of  God,  and  so  many  promises  had  been  sent  to  them, 
they  should  be  thus  abandoned  by  a  powerful  and 
Catholic  monarch,  upon  whom,  after  God,  they  had 
founded  all  their  hopes."  ^  These  appeals  touched 
Philipin  his  most  tender  points,  namely,his  Catholicity 
and  his  pride ;  and  once  more  the  whole  subject  was 
turned  over  to  his  Council  of  State  for  consideration 
and  report.  Again  they  told  him  that  it  was  his 
obvious  duty  to  support  the  Irish  Catholics ;  and 
they  thought  that  in  the  circumstances  6000  men 

*  Simancas  MSS.,  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 

2  F 


450  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

might  be  sent  instead  of  the  5000  asked  for  by 
Tyrone.  "  Stores  and  mnnitions  should  be  made 
ready  at  once,  for  they  have  not  even  bread  to  eat 
in  Ireland.  Everything  should  be  done  with  great 
secrecy ;  the  men  should  be  quietly  concentrated  in 
Lisbon,  and  an  increased  quantity  of  biscuit  ordered." 
Sufficient  money  should  be  sent  with  the  expedi- 
tion to  last  six  months — 200,000  ducats,  which  sum 
it  was  supposed  already  existed  in  Lisbon — and 
105,000  ducats  more  must  be  raised  for  fitting  out 
the  fleet. ^  In  accordance  with  the  recommendation 
previously  made,  Irish  and  other  ships  in  Spanish 
southern  ports  were  seized  for  the  service,^  and  all 
the  preparations  were  detailed  for  the  sending  to 
Ireland,  at  last,  of  a  powerful  force  to  strike  a  blow 
for  the  Catholic  cause. ^ 

In  the  meanwhile,  alarming  news  of  the  threat- 
ening  Armada  came    to  Ireland   and   to  England. 

^  February  9,  1601.  Tlie  Council  to  Philip.  Simancas,  Spanish 
Calendar,  vol.  iv. 

-  Irish  State  Papers,  208,  uncalendared. 

•'  Ibarra  proA^ded  the  following  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  expedi- 
tion : — 


]\[aintenance  of  4500  men  for  two  months 
One  wage  for  4000  new  soldiers  to  be  shipped 
Two  wages  for  veteran  cavalry- 
Shipping  and  keep  of  men      .... 
Two  wages  for  Irish  infantry 
It  is  most  important  that  the  troops  sliould  be  kept 
in  good  order  and  prevented  from  molesting  the 
natives,  so  they  must  Le  paid  punctually.     For 
this  and  other  needs  there  must  be  taken  with 
the  expedition      ....... 


Ducats. 
40,000 
20,000 
1 2,000 
17,000 
16,000 


Total,      305,000 

The  remaining  1 500  or  2000  men  were  to  be  provided  for  in  Lisbon, 
presumably  by  the  Portuguese  Exchequer.     Twenty  caravels  were  to 


STILL   ANOTHER    ARMADA  451 

Timothy  Williams,  a  Plymouth  mariner  who  liad 
been  a  prisoner  in  Spain,  escaped  from  Corunna  and 
told  of  the  vast  collection  of  stores  ;  a  merchant 
arriving  in  Ireland  from  Spain  said  that  9000  men 
were  in  Lisbon  destined  for  Ireland.^  Montjoy 
clamoured  for  more  men  and  stores,  especially  for 
Munster;  Carew  caught  the  shifty  M'Carty  More 
corresponding  with  the  rebels  and  haled  him  to 
prison  (July  1601);  the  Sugan  Earl  of  Desmond 
was  tracked  to  his  last  cave  by  the  White  Knight, 
and  fell  into  English  hands  (May  1601) ;"  there  was 
no  great  Munster  chief  now  to  lead  the  province, 
and  all  men  knew  that  the  iinal  trial  of  strength 
was  coming  which  should  make  Tyrone  a  semi- 
independent  vassal  of  Spain,  or  a  beaten  traitor  at 
the  mercy  of  Elizabeth.  Through  the  summer  the 
alarming  news  of  a  great  Spanish  fleet  in  prepara- 
tion came.  Sometimes  Cecil  believed  that  the  desti- 
nation was  Flanders,  and  once  there  came  in  July 
a  false  alarm  that  the  Spaniards  were  already  in  the 
Channel,  where  there  were  no  English  ships  ready 
to  resist  them  but  a  few  foul  little  vessels  under 
Sir  Richard  Leveson  ;  but  the  flocking  of  priests  to 
Ireland,  the  rising  hopes  of  the  rebels,  and  the  irre- 
pressible talk  on  the  quays  of  Lisbon,  convinced  the 
Anglo-Lish governors,  at  all  events,  that  the  Spaniards 
were  to  strike  at  them.  But  at  what  point?  Carew 
persisted  in  his   belief  that  Munster  would   be  at- 

he  freighted  (those  seized  in  the  ports  doubtless)  at  a  cost  of  140,000 
ducats,  to  bring  troops  from  the  Azores.  The  accounts  are  extremely 
detailed,  and  the  above  is  a  mere  abstract  of  them. 

^  Harris  to  Cecil,  March  9,  and  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland  to  Cecil, 
February  9.     Irish  State  Papers,  208,  uncalendared. 

-  A  most  quaint  and  curious  account  of  James  Fitz-Thomas's  cajjture 
is  in  vol.  i.  ot  "  Pacata  Hibernia." 


452  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

tacked,  either  Cork  or  VVaterford,  and  the  aged 
Lord  Admiral  was  of  the  same  opinion.  Carew, 
therefore,  with  his  quite  insufficient  forces,  made 
what  dispositions  he  could  to  hold  Cork  against  an 
enemy,  whilst  he  still  kept  back  an  advance  of  the 
rebels  southward  by  grimly  clinging  to  Limerick  and 
the  line  of  the  Shannon.  Montjoy  was  determined, 
if  possible,  to  strike  a  blow  at  Ulster  itself  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  and  though  he  got  but 
little  help  from  England,  he  did  nobly.  In  July  he 
captured  the  fort  on  the  Blackwater,  which  formed 
the  door  to  Ulster  from  the  Pale  ;  for  Tyrone  dared 
not  divert  his  force  from  Lough  Foyle,  or  Docwra  at 
Derry  would  push  down  to  Ballyshannon  and  so 
divide  Tyrone  from  O'Donnell.  Though  Docwra  was 
unable  to  reach  so  far  south  as  that,  he  did  the  next 
best  thing  possible  to  him,  namely,  to  make  a  dash 
at  O'Donnell's  capital  of  Donegal,  which  he  captured 
and  held  in  August. 

Thus  month  after  month  passed  and  still  no 
Spanish  Armada  appeared.  By  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember a  fine  flying  squadron  of  seven  new  galleons 
had  been  fitted  out  in  England  to  supplement  Leve- 
son's  little  Channel  fleet,  and  the  fear  of  a  Spanish 
descent  upon  England,  which  still  haunted  the  minds 
of  the  men  who  had  fought  the  Armada  of  1588, 
grew  less  alarming  as  England  stood  on  her  guard. 

In  the  meanwhile  affairs  were  proceeding  in  Spain 
in  the  usual  inept  fashion.  When  Philip  had  again 
accepted  the  advice  of  his  council  to  send  the  fleet 
to  Ireland  (February  1601),  he  had  "  entrusted  this 
matter  to  my  confessor,  as  it  is  so  much  for  God's 
service,  in  order  that  he  may  see  everything  recom- 


THE   FINAL   ARMADA  453 

mended  here  carried  out  with  all  possible  speed." 
And  yet,  although  the  soldiers  were  mostly  mustered 
in  Lisbon  in  February,  it  was  late  in  August  1601 
before  the  Council  could  advise  Philip  that  all  was 
ready  for  a  start.  Two  flyboats  had  been  sent  to 
Killibegs  during  the  summer^  carrying  messages  to 
the  chiefs  as  to  the  aid  they  might  expect,  and  to 
take  counsel  as  to  its  destination  ;  but  almost  to  the 
hour  of  sailing  of  the  fleet  a  difference  of  opinion 
existed  as  to  the  most  suitable  place  for  it  to  attack. 
Some  of  the  Irish  thought  it  should  go  to  Ulster, 
some  to  Drogheda,  but  it  was  finally  considered 
that  the  nearness  of  Munster  to  Spain  gave  it  an 
advantage  over  other  parts  of  Ireland,  and  Cork  was 
selected  as  the  port  of  debarkation. 

Early  in  September  all  was  finally  ready.  There 
were  thirty-three  ships,  great  and  small,  for  the  con- 
veyance of  troops,  besides  storeships,  flyboats,  and 
victuallers.  Don  Juan  del  Aguila,  a  famous  Spanish 
soldier,  who  had  held  Brittany  for  so  long  against 
France  and  England  combined,  was  in  chief  com- 
mand of  the  troops,  of  which  there  were  nearly 
5000,  besides  six  pieces  of  siege  artillery  and  a 
large  quantity  of  stores.  The  shipping  was  undc^r 
the  command  of  Don  Diego  Brochero  as  admiral, 
and  a  fine  old  sailor,  Pedro  de  Zubiaur,  as  vice- 
admiral.  Carew  stood  ready  at  Cork,  determined  to 
fight  as  became  his  name,  though  the  (Tovernment 
in  London  had  helped  him  but  little.  On  Sep- 
tember  13  a  swift  pinnace,  under  Captain  Love  of 

'  One  of  these  vessels  was  very  nearly  caught  by  (Japtaiu  Plessing- 
ton  of  the  Tramontana,  but  she  escaped  by  her  superior  sailing  powers 
(Irish  State  Papers,  209,  uncaleudared). 


454  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Crookhaven,  brought  him  the  news  that  the  Spanish 
fleet,  with  wind  astern,  was  out  of  the  Bay  and  sail- 
ing straight  for  Ireland  ;  and  that  day,  and  the  next, 
and  the  next,  the  stout  President  of  Munster  looked 
hourly  for  the  invaders  who  came  not.  On  the  fourth 
day  the  wind  changed  to  the  north,  and  he  knew 
that,  whilst  that  wind  blew,  Cork  was  safe  from  any 
Spanish  fleet  that  sailed.  Montjoy  in  the  meanwhile 
had  pushed  south  as  far  as  Athy,  and  thither  Carew 
rode  to  concert  with  his  chief  the  plan  of  defence  ; 
but  fatigue  and  sickness  overtook  him  before  he 
reached  Athy,  and  Montjoy  found  him  lying  ill  near 
Kilkenny.  Whilst  they  were  there  conferring,  the 
wind  changed  to  the  east,  and  on  the  23rd  a  breath- 
less messenger  came  from  Sir  Charles  Wilmot  at 
Cork  to  say  that  the  Spanish  fleet  had  two  days 
before  endeavoured  to  make  the  harbour,  and  had 
failed,  whereupon  the  invaders  had  sailed  towards 
Kinsale.  Munster  was  the  place  of  danger ;  and 
Montjoy  and  Carew  determined  to  concentrate  every 
available  man  to  face  the  foe  there,  leaving  Dublin 
and  the  Pale  to  look  after  itself  till  the  more  press- 
ing peril  had  passed. 

The  danger  was  again  not  so  great  as  it  looked. 
Spanish  organisation  was  still  wretched,  and  Spanish 
hearts  were  no  longer  in  the  task.  When  the 
northern  gale  had  struck  the  fleet  ofi"  Ushant,  the 
vice-flagship  of  Zubiaur,  with  eight  other  vessels 
carrying  650  soldiers  and  most  of  the  stores,  had 
been  driven  back  crippled  to  Corunna,  and  another 
of  the  largest  ships,  full  of  men,  had  straggled,  and 
had  been  captured  at  the  mouth  of  the  Channel  by 
an  English  privateer.     Three  more  vessels,  with  700 


INVASION   OF   IRELAND  455 

men  on  board,  fell  off  too  f;ir  to  leeward,  to  make 
either  Cork  or  Kinsale,  and  sought  shelter  in  O'Dris- 
coll's  harbour  of  Baltimore.  The  main  expedition, 
therefore,  that  sailed  into  the  liarboiir  of  Kinsale 
(October  i,  1601,  N.S.)  brought  only  about  3000 
effective  soldiers  under  Don  Juan  del  Aguila.  The 
town  was  garrisoned  by  one  English  company  ;  the 
defences  were  obsolete  and  the  place  untenable  ;  so 
the  Spaniards  were  allowed  to  land  without  opposi- 
tion. Don  Juan  was  a  chivalrous  soldier  of  the  old 
school,  brave  as  a  lion,  but  thinking  little  of  sailors  ; 
whilst  Brochero,  the  admiral,  like  most  of  the  men 
of  his  profession,  believed  that,  though  their  function 
was  conveyance  and  not  fighting,  seamen  were,  in 
their  way,  as  dignified  as  men-at-arms.  The  demo- 
ralisation that  afflicted  the  Spanish  service  also 
touched  him ;  and  when  Aguila  requested  him  not 
to  sail  away  until  he  had  sent  the  food  stores  up  the 
river  to  the  town,  Brochero  replied  that  he  could 
not  wait  to  land  the  food,  and  simply  cast  the  muni- 
tions anyhow,  without  order  or  account,  into  the 
ooze  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbour,  "  where  they  were 
all  ill-handled  and  wet  as  if  the  enemy  had  been 
already  playing  with  their  artillery  on  the  ships  ; " 
and  so  Brochero  sailed  away,  leaving  Don  Juan  del 
Aguila  with  his  little  army,  and  only  two  field-pieces 
and  two  demi-cannon,  to  do  the  best  he  could. ^ 
lie  endeavoured  to  tranquillise  the  townspeople, 

^  Don  Juan  reported  that  the  rest  of  the  cannon  was  not  landed,  ats 
he  had  not  ammunition  for  it,  much  of  the  latter  being  spoilt  by  the 
wet.  Philippus  O'Sullevan  ("  Historian  Catholica  Ibernite")  says  that, 
from  the  first  landing  of  the  force,  dissensions  existed  between  the 
Spanish  officers,  and  between  Aquila  and  the  Spanish  Archbishop  of 
Dublin,  who  accompanied  him. 


456  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

assuring  them  personally  and  by  proclamation  that 
he  would  use  them  as  friends  and  brothers;  "yet, 
withal,  he  iindeth  no  assistance  from  them,  neither 
dare  they  declare  themselves."  The  place,  with  its 
crumbling  mediaeval  walls,  was  commanded  by  hills 
on  all  sides,  but  a  small  peninsula  jutting  out  in 
front  of  the  town  would  make  a  good  point  from 
which  the  entrance  from  the  sea  could  be  de- 
fended. This,  however,  Don  Juan  decided  that  he 
had  not  sufficient  men  to  effect,  and  to  defend  the 
town  from  the  land-side  as  well.  Many  of  his 
soldiers  were  boys  and  recruits,  who  began  to  skulk 
and  evade  as  soon  as  they  landed.  This,  however, 
he  presently  stopped,  and  his  skill  and  firmness  in- 
fused some  spirit  and  courage  into  them.  Still  it 
was  evident  to  him  that  in  this  exposed  little  town, 
with  a  small  isolated  force,  short  of  food  and  stores,^ 
he  could  do  nothing  effectual  until  he  had  formed  a 
junction  with  Tyrone.  Montjoy  he  knew  was  with 
over  4000  English  troops  at  Cork,  only  sixteen  miles 
away,  and  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  the  Viceroy 
from  pushing  between  Kinsale  and  the  forces  of  the 
northern  rebels.  Aguila,  therefore,  could  only  send 
off  beseeching  messages  to  Spain  for  reinforcements 
and  supplies,  whilst  the  English  troops  gradually  drew 
around  him.  Swift  runners  and  pinnaces,  too,  were 
sent  by  Don  Juan  and  the  Spanish  Archbishop  to 

'  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  English  was  to  burn  all  the  food  within 
five  miles  of  Kinsale  and  seize  the  cattle  ("  Pacata  Hibernia  ").  As  we 
have  seen,  the  Spaniards  had  always  been  told  that  they  need  bring  no 
horses,  but  only  harness.  The  former,  however  plentiful  they  might  be 
in  Ulster,  were  non-existent  in  Kinsale,  and  the  harness  had  drifted 
back  to  Spain.  Aguila  had  therefore  no  cavalry  with  which  to  prevent 
the  English  destruction. 


THE   SPANIARDS   IN    MUNSTKR      457 

Avarn  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell  of  his  coming.  But 
they  were  afar  off;  the  English  troops  held  Derry 
nud  Donegal,  whilst  Limerick  and  the  Shannon 
in  English  hands  lay  between  the  rebels  and  the 
Spaniards,  and  before  the  chiefs  could  join  Del 
Aguila,  the  force  of  the  Lord  Deputy  would  have 
to  be  utterly  defeated. 

The  Munster  chiefs  saw,  like  the  rest  of  the 
world,  that  this  was  the  struggle  which  was  to  de- 
cide once  for  all  whether  the  Catholic  supremacy 
should  be  restored  or  not.  The  fates  had  decreed 
that  at  the  critical  point  all  the  chances  leant  to  the 
side  of  England  and  Protestantism  :  but  Catholic 
churchmen  had  not  been  exhorting  and  preaching  to 
Irishmen  in  vain  for  so  many  years,  and  the  Munster 
men  began  to  simmer  into  fervour  for  the  cause,  as 
they  thought,  of  God  and  Ireland.  The  great  men, 
M'Carty  More  and  Desmond,  were  safe  under  lock 
and  key,  offering  to  fight  against  their  own  country- 
men and  swearing  unalterable  loyalty  to  the  Queen 
in  return  for  a  recognition  of  their  rank  and  posses- 
sions, but  the  smaller  chiefs,  all  of  whom  had  taken 
the  oath  of  obedience,  were  impelled  for  many  be- 
sides religious  reasons  to  think  of  the  future.  Many 
of  them  held  their  lands,  as  English  nominees, 
against  the  hereditary  claimants  under  the  Irish  law, 
and  if  they  sided  with  the  English  now,  a  rebel 
victory  would  mean  their  ejection  and  ruin.  Such 
a  man  as  this  was  Donal  O'Sidlivan  Beare,  Lord  of 
Beare  and  Bantry,  whose  importance  had  been  of 
late  years  enormously  increased  by  the  suppression 
of  his  prince,  M'Carty  More,  and  by  the  patronage 
of  the  Euglisli,  who  had  dispossessed  his  uncle  Owen 


458  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

in  his  favour.  He,  like  most  of  his  neighbours,  had 
always  been  effusively  loyal,  though  some  of  his 
kinsmen  had  risen  up  and  joined  the  Fitzgeralds  in 
the  Desmond  wars.  This  chief,  with  his  magnificent 
harbour  of  Bantry  and  his  apparently  impregnable 
castle  of  Dunboy,  did  not  wish  to  offend  the  English, 
but  he  was  even  more  loath  to  lose  his  rank  and 
possessions  at  the  hands  of  Tyrone.  So  from  Dun- 
boy  a  secret  message  went  to  Del  Aguila  to  say  that 
a  thousand  sturdy  clansmen,  fully  armed,  were  ready, 
and  a  thousand  more  if  arms  were  sent  to  them,  to 
march  under  their  chief  to  check  the  advance  of 
Montjoy  until  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell  could  join  the 
Spaniards.  The  Spanish  commander  could  only 
reply  sadly  that  his  arms  had  drifted  back  to  Spain 
in  Zubiaur's  ships,  and  he  had  none  to  spare.  He 
was,  moreover,  ignorant  as  yet  of  Tyrone's  plan  of 
campaign  ;  and  whilst  thanking  O'Sullivan,  he  ad- 
vised him  for  the  moment  to  stand  firm  but  not  to 
declare  himself.^ 

In  the  meanwhile  Carew  and  Montjoy  worked 
like  the  heroes  they  were.  The  artillery  and  stores 
had  to  be  brought  from  Dublin,  and  this  delayed 
them  for  weeks  before  a  regular  siege  of  Kinsale 
could  be  undertaken  ;  but  skirmishes  and  desperately 
resisted  sallies  of  the  Spaniards  took  place  almost 
nightly,  for  the  English  force  of  about  4000  men 
were  now  close  around  the  town.  One  of  the 
victualling  ships,  under  Captain  Button,  and  a 
pinnace  called  the  Moon  belonging  to  the  Queen, 
were  the  only  vessels  as  yet  available  for  blockade  ; 
and  once  they  made    an    ineffectual    attempt    with 

*  Philippiis  O'Sullevan. 


THE   SIEGK    OF    KINSALK  459 

their  little  guns,  as  they  lay  in  the  harbour  mouth, 
to  capture  the  Castle  of  Rincorran,  which  commanded 
the  entrance  to  Kinsale  on  the  east  side  of  the 
channel.  At  length,  however,  towards  the  end  of 
October,  the  siege  artillery  and  stores  were  landed  in 
a  little  haven  to  the  east  of  Kinsale  towards  Cork, 
and  the  siege  of  the  town  began  in  earnest.  The 
first  task  of  the  English  was  to  reduce  the  Castle  of 
llincorran,  where  Aguila  had  posted  150  men  with  a 
promise  that  they  should  be  reinforced  it"  the  place 
were  attacked.  The  English  had  only  two  faulty 
culverins  for  their  battery,  and  numberless  mishaps 
befell  them  before  they  could  be  effectually  used. 
Again  and  again  they  broke  down,  and  during  the 
first  night  of  the  attack  Aguila  endeavoured  to  re- 
inforce the  castle  b\-  means  of  boats  from  the  town. 
!n  this,  however,  Captain  Button,  the  sturdy  victualler, 
who  was  on  the  alert,  frustrated  them  by  means  of 
his  popguns  of  demi-sakers. 

( )n  the  second  day  of  the  cannonade  Carew  lost 
patience  at  the  poor  practice,  and  laid  and  worked 
the  guns  himself.  Aguila  seeing  that  the  fort  must 
fall  if  not  relieved,  made  a  bold  attempt  to  thrust 
reinforcements  into  it  by  land.  A  desperate  little 
battle  ensued,  in  which  many  fell  on  both  sides  before 
the  Spaniards  were  driven  bnck.^     The  gallant  little 

'  It  should  be  explained  that  the  liarbour  of  Kinsale  lies  inside  tlie 
serpentine  mouth  of  the  Bandou,  -whicli  opens  into  the  ocean  towards 
tlie  south.  A  little  way  inside  the  I'iver  suddenly  turns  west,  forniiug 
a  peninsula  in  front  of  the  town,  which  lies  on  a  slope  facing  the  east- 
The  Castle  of  Rincorran  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  outer  channel,  facing 
the  peninsula  towards  the  west,  so  that  to  relieve  it  by  land  from  the  town 
a  detour  had  to  be  made  on  the  north  side,  and  it  was  here  tliat  the 
battle  in  question  was  fought  on  October  31st,  in  which  the  Spaniards 
were  driven  back. 


460  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

garrison  of  Rincorran  did  their  best  to  make  terms, 
but  Montjoy  insisted  upon  complete  surrender  and 
this  the  Spanish  captain,  Paez  de  Clavijo,  refused 
unless  he  might  retain  his  sword  and  return  to  Kin- 
sale.  His  own  men  threatened  to  throw  him  over 
the  walls  for  his  obstinacy,  and  many  of  them  escaped 
by  the  waterside  ;  but  by  the  ist  November  all  was 
over  at  Rincorran  ;  Paez  surrendered  his  sword  to 
Montjoy,  and  Aguila  now  found  friendly  access  to 
him  cut  off  by  land  and  sea.  In  the  meanwhile, 
both  England  and  Spain  had  awakened  to  the  im- 
portant ciisis  that  had  been  reached.  The  troops 
to  be  sent  from  England  were  increased  from  2000 
to  5000,  but  unfortunately  mariners  were  hard  to 
get,  for  all  sea  service  except  privateering  for  plunder 
was  unpopular.  Thus  the  soldiers  stood  waiting, 
and  it  was  quite  the  end  of  October  before  the  flying 
squadron  of  six  royal  galleons  with  merchantmen 
and  transports  sailed  out  of  the  Thames,  crowded 
with  troops,  under  Sir  Richard  Leveson.  Then  bad 
weather,  head  winds,  and  accidents  delayed  them  in 
the  Channel,  and  it  was  the  15th  November  before 
the  naval  force  reached  the  offing  of  Kinsale  with  the 
reinforcements  which  placed  Montjoy  in  a  position  of 
at  least  numerical  equality  with  the  enemy. 

Tardy  as  had  been  the  English  naval  preparations, 
those  of  the  Spaniards  were  fortunately  more  lagging 
still.  Zubiaur's  squadron  had  to  be  refitted  and  re- 
inforced, and,  notwithstanding  Aguila's  urgent  and 
repeated  messages,  did  not  sail  from  Corunna  until 
the  7th  December  (N.S.).  The  force  was  a  strong 
one,  consisting  of  ten  ships  with  829  foot-soldiers 
and  a  large  quantity  of  food  and  stores.     Again  mis- 


THE   SPANIARDS   AT    KINSALK       461 

fortune  or  want  of  skill  dogged  the  Spaniards  iioiu  the 
first.  One  of  Zubiaur's  ships  was  wrecked  going  out 
of  port,  and  he  lost  sight  of  three  others  in  the  bad 
weather  that  followed,  one  of  which  was  wrecked  on 
the  coast  of  Brittany,  one  returned  to  Galicia,  and  the 
third  was  captured  off  Kinsale  by  the  English.  With 
the  six  ships  remainini;-  Zubiaur  approached  Kinsale, 
but  learning  from  Irish  fishermen  that  the  mouth  of 
the  harbour  was  full  of  English  men-of-war,  he  sailed 
off  to  the  convenient  port  of  Castlehaven  to  the  west. 
Sir  Finnan  O'Driscoll  and  his  sons  had  always  beon 
loyal  to  the  Queen,  like  their  neighbour,  O'Sullivan, 
but  this  fresh  force  of  Spaniards  arriving  in  their 
country  turned  the  scale,  Tyrone  and  O'Donnell 
were  hastening  south  with  the  rebel  army,  Carew's 
attempt  to  intercept  the  latter  at  Cashel  with  a  flying 
column  having  failed,  either  by  reason  of  O'Don- 
nell's  better  knowledge  of  the  ground  having  enabled 
him  to  slip  past  the  English  into  West  Munster,  or 
from  Carew's  disinclination  to  engage  the  Irish  in  an 
action,  of  which,  from  the  first,  he  disapproved. 

There  had  also  drifted  into  the  O'Driscoll  port  of 
Baltimore  three  of  the  vessels  of  the  original  Brochero 
squadron,  which  had  remained  there  isolated  but  un- 
molested. Now  that  Zubiaur's  fresh  reinforcement 
had  arrived  in  their  country,  it  seemed  wise  for  the 
O'Driscolls  and  the  O'Sullivans  to  throw  over,  their 
loyalty  and  to  rally  openly  to  the  Catholic  side.  The 
fortresses  of  Castlehaven  and  Baltimore  were  solemnly 
handed  over  by  their  owners  to  the  Spanish  officers 
for  King  Philip.  The  news  ran  like  wildfire  through 
Munster,  and  from  bog  and  mountain  shaggy  clans- 
men flocked  down  to  their  chiefs  to  fight  for  faith 


462  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

and  Ireland  against  the  Sassenach.  O'SuUivan  Beare, 
to  be  denied  no  longer,  tendered  the  submission  of 
his  lands  and  castles  to  the  King  of  Spain. ^  Zubi- 
aur  armed  700  Irishmen,  whom  he  despatched  with 
200  Spaniards  to  join  O'Donnell,  and  then  putting 
Spanish  garrisons  into  Castlehaven,  Baltimore,  and 
Dunboy,  ho  sent  pinnaces  Hying  to  Spain  to  beg  for 
powerful  reinforcements. 

Here  were  three  little  isolated  Spanish  forces, 
whose  very  existence  depended  upon  the  victory  of 
the  rebel  chiefs  over  the  English.  With  an  in- 
credible want  of  skill  or  good  fortune,  each  separate 
Spanish  expedition  had  got  itself  bottled  up  in  a 
diifereut  port,  and  practically  beleaguered  by  land 
and  sea.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  siege  of  Kinsale, 
whither  Carew  had  now  returned  from  his  abortive 
attempt  to  intercept  O'Donnell,  proceeded  briskly  ; 
the  fleet  under  Leveson  co-operating  effectually  with 
Montjoy.  Two  of  the  naval  guns  were  landed,  and 
forced  the  surrender  of  the  entrenched  fort  on  the 
peninsula  facing  the  town  that  defended  the  inner 
harbour,  and  this  enabled  some  of  the  ships  to  warp 

^  O'Sullivan  wrote  a  famous  letter  to  Philip  III.  on  December  20,  on 
the  occasion  of  his  voluntary  submission  to  the  Spaniards.  After  setting 
forth  his  own  noble  lineage  and  the  racial  connection  between  Ireland 
and  Spain,  he  continues  :  "  For  these  considerations  and  for  many  other 
commendable  causes,  I  beciueath  and  offer  in  humbleness  of  mind  and 
heart,  my  own  person,  with  all  my  forces,  perpetuallj'  to  serve  your 
Majesty,  not  only  in  Ireland,  but  in  any  other  place  where  it  may  please 
you.  I  commit,  also,  my  wife  and  my  children,  my  manors,  towns^ 
country,  and  lands,  and  my  haven  of  Dunboy,  next  under  God  to  the 
protection,  keeping,  and  defence  or  commerce  of  your  Majesty,  to  be  in 
your  hands  and  at  your  disposal."  This  letter  was  intercepted,  and 
although  O'Sullivan  was  aftei-wards  anxious  to  be  reconciled  to  the 
English,  he  was  never  forgiven.  As  will  be  told,  he  became  a  great 
Spanish  noble,  and  lived  and  died  in  Spain,  as  did  most  of  his  kinsmen. 


FIGHT   AT   CASl  LEHAVEN  463 

inside,  facing  the  houses  of  the  town,  and  to  add 
their  battery  to  that  of  jVlontjoy  from  the  land-side. 
At  length,  by  the  end  of  November,  the  lower  town 
had  become  quite  untenable,  and  the  Spaniards  were 
driven  to  the  trenches  on  the  farther  side,  and  higher 
up  the  slope.  Aguila  looked,  and  looked  in  vain, 
for  the  coming  of  Zubiaur,  or  for  the  descent  of  the 
rebel  chiefs.  A  great  number  of  his  men  were  sick, 
and  all  were  famished  ;  but  they  fought  well,  sally- 
ing night  after  night  and  charging  the  English 
batteries,  sometimes  almost  successfully.  In  the 
midst  of  this  came  the  news  of  Zubiaur's  arrival 
at  Castlehaven  (December  11,  N.S.),  and  thither 
Leveson  hastened  with  four  galleons  and  two  mer- 
chantmen of  his  squadron  to  engage  the  Spanish 
ships.  The  action  that  ensued  is  told  variably  by 
the  two  sides.  Zubiaur  himself  reported  that  the 
English  landed  artillery  to  attack  him ;  but  that  he 
drew  off  and  sank  the  Queen's  flagship,  greatly 
damaging  the  others,  though  two  of  his  own  ships 
sank.  Philippus  O'Sullevan  goes  beyond  this,  and 
says  that  501  Englishmen  were  killed,  60  being- 
knocked  over  by  one  shot,  as  they  sat  at  table : 
whilst  Leveson  in  his  account  to  the  Lord  Deputy, 
claims  to  have  driven  the  Spanish  flagship  on  to  the 
rocks,  that  another  ship  sank,  and  that  two  more 
Spaniards  ran  aground.  Leaving  Zubiaur  with  one, 
or  at  most  two  ships,  Leveson  then  returned  to 
Kinsale  and  told  his  story,  whilst  Zubiaur  waited 
and  prayed  for  succour  in  vain. 

But  still  the  rebel  chiefs  came  not.  Don  Juan 
del  Aguila  wrote  to  them  on  December  28,  al- 
most indignantly.     He  expected  them  long  before, 


464  TREASON    AND   PLOT 

he  said :  the  English  were  weak  and  weary,  and  a 
blow  struck  now  would  be  effectual.  He  spoke 
truly.  The  march  southward  of  Tyrone  had  drawn 
all  Munster  into  revolt  behind  him.  Montjoy's  army 
was  worn  and  reduced  by  the  winter  siege ;  the 
small  English  squadron  of  galleons  at  Kinsale  was 
quite  inadequate  to  blockade  the  whole  coast  of 
Munster ;  and  another  Spanish  expedition  under 
Don  Martin  de  la  Cerda  was  known  to  be  ready  to 
sail  from  Lisbon.  With  a  little  good  luck  and 
ability  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards,  Tyrone  might 
at  this  juncture  have  turned  the  tide  of  events  and 
have  made  England  Catholic.  But  it  was  not  to  be. 
The  weather  was  bad  ;  O'Donnell  lagged  on  the  way 
for  Tyrone's  coming;  and  it  was  January  i,  1602 
(N.S.),  before  the  advance  guard  of  the  rebel  army 
appeared  to  the  north  on  the  hills  overlooking  Kin- 
sale  and  the  English  position.  Tyrone's  plan  was  to 
thrust  the  Castlehaven  Spaniards  and  Irishmen,  who 
had  joined  him,  round  the  extreme  right  (or  Avestern) 
flank  of  the  besieging  line,  where  the  Irish  levies 
were  placed,  into  Kinsale,  which  he  thought  might 
make  Aguila  strong  enough  to  come  out  and  join 
hands  with  him.  Intercepted  letters  and  willing 
Irish  spies  informed  Montjoy  of  the  plan/  and  when^ 
before  dawn  on  January  2,  1602,  the  Spaniards  and 
Munster  Kerns  crept  round  and  made  their  attack, 

1  In  "  Pacata  Hibernia,"  a  somewhat  significant  account  is  given  of  one 
of  the  sources  of  Montjoy's  information.  Two  days  before  the  battle, 
Brian  MacHugh  Ogue  MacMahon,  Lord  of  Monaghan,  sent  a  messenger 
to  ask  Montjoy  for  old  acquaintance  sake  to  send  him  a  bottle  of  aqua- 
vita,  which  the  Viceroy  did.  Either  out  of  gratitude,  or  from  a  desire 
to  hedge,  or  else  because  he  dreaded  the  overlordship  of  O'Neil  more 
than  that  of  the  Queen,  MacMahon  sent  Montjoy  a  hint  next  day, 
upon  which  the  latter  was  prompt  to  act. 


ROUT    OF   TYRONE  465 

they  found  themselves  outnumbered  by  the  English 
whom  Montjoy  had  stationed  there  since  the  previous 
evening.  Out  of  the  200  Spaniards  140  were  killed 
in  the  surprise  ;  and  as  they  fled  headlong,  Tyrone, 
still  in  the  dark,  ordered  his  forces  to  draw  off,  his 
intention  being  to  attack  again  with  his  main  body 
by  daylight.  As  soon  as  Montjoy  learnt  this,  he  ad- 
vanced rapidly  and  fell  unexpectedly  upon  Tyrone's 
right  flank  as  he  retreated.  The  Irish  were  already 
demoralised  by  the  confused  retreat  in  the  dark,  and 
were  seized  with  panic.  The  whole  six  thousand  of 
them  fled  for  life,  being  slaughtered  without  mercy 
when  they  were  caught.  Fifteen  hundred  died  thus, 
and  the  next  day  every  prisoner,  not  already  sacri- 
ficed, was  hanged.  Tyrone  was  wounded,  and  was 
carried  in  a  litter  up  into  Ulster,  and  O'Donnell, 
with  Redmond  Burke,  Hugh  Mostyn,  and  the  few 
remaining  Spaniards,  managed  to  reach  Castlehaven. 
Heart-broken,  panic-stricken,  and  desperate,  he 
could  only  pray  Zubiaur  to  carry  them  to  Spain  at 
once,  with  the  dire  news  that  all  was  lost ;  that  the 
heretic  cause  was  victorious,  and  that  Spain  must 
put  forth  the  whole  of  her  might  now,  or  abandon 
her  dream  for  ever. 

The  news  fell  upon  Spain  like  a  thunder-clap, 
and  for  once  aroused  the  King  and  his  Council  to 
some  activity.  "  Your  Majesty's  prestige  is  at 
stake,"  said  the  latter,  "  and  yet  there  is  no  means 
of  sending  effective  and  prompt  aid,  for  want  of 
ships,  arms,  and  men,  everything  being  scarce  and 
short."  But  still,  they  said,  something  must  be  done 
to  keep  up  the  war  in  Ireland,  or  the  English  would 
descend  upon  Spain  and  destroy  them  all.     Every 

2  G 


466  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

man  must  be  taken  from  the  garrisons  and  sent  to 
Ireland  ;  money,  stores,  and  arms  must  be  collected 
from  every  point  and  at  any  sacrifice.  Knighthoods, 
increased  pay,  and  rewards  must  be  promised  to 
officers  to  prompt  them  to  activity.  Nobles  and 
bishops  must  arm  their  vassals  ;  Italy  and  Savoy  must 
be  scoured  for  war  materials  and  men ;  all  the 
galleys  must  come  from  Naples  for  the  defence  of 
Spain  ;  ships  must  be  sent  to  warn  the  Indies,  and  the 
King  himself  must  write  a  letter  to  Aguila,  urging 
him  to  stand  firm  until  help  reaches  him,  that  at 
least  will  allow  him  to  leave  Ireland  with  honour.^ 
O'Donnell,  deploring,  beseeching,  and  exhorting,  was 
propitiated  with  flattery  and  presents  ;  but  when  he 
asked  that  the  chief  command  of  the  new  expedition 
should  be  given  to  the  Adelantado,  he  was  told  that 
the  latter  was  too  great  a  personage  for  such  a  force 
as  could  be  sent.  In  the  tornado  of  fright  that  was 
passing  over  the  Spanish  Administration,  the  most 
extravagant  advice  was  given.  The  Adelantado 
himself,  unpractical  as  usual,  stormed  at  the  policy 
of  sending  aid  by  driblets  :  "  which  will  only  prolong 
the  agony,  and  let  the  patient  die  after  all."  If  only 
a  great  Armada  had  been  sent  under  his  command, 
as  he  advised,  all  would  have  been  well ;  and  even 
now  it  might  be  done.  Commissary-General  Con- 
treras  was  for  raising  an  army  of  14,000  men  for 
Ireland,  half  of  whom  might  be  Germans  and  Wal- 
loons shipped  from  Dunkirk.  The  King's  confessor, 
Father  Cordoba,  thought  they  should  be  prepared  for 
the  worst ;  but,  as  the  poverty-stricken  treasury  could 
not  hope  to  provide  for  the  danger  at  all  points, 

1  The  letter  is  printed  in  the  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


THE   FALL   OF   KINSALE  467 

**the  most  important  of  all  preparations  will  be  to 
appease  the  anger  of  Almighty  God,  provoked  by  the 
vices  and  sins  so  prevalent  in  this  country.  We 
must  therefore  earnestly  seek  a  remedy  by  mending 
our  ways  of  life  and  by  constant  prayer."  ^  In  the 
midst  of  all  this  panic  and  despairing  effort,  another 
blow  fell.  The  five  ships  loaded  with  men,  arms, 
and  stores,  which  had  sailed  from  Lisbon  late  in 
December,  under  Martin  de  la  Cerda,  were  driven 
back  again  by  storm,  the  flagship  alone  having  reached 
within  sight  of  Kinsale.  There  she  had  captured 
eleven  Irish  boatmen,  from  whom  it  was  learnt  that 
the  harbour  was  full  of  English  ships  and  the  town 
in  possession  of  the  Viceroy  ;  one  of  the  sailors 
having  that  very  day  seen  Don  Juan  del  Aguila 
dining  in  public  with  the  Queen's  representative. 
La  Cerda  waited  to  hear  no  more,  but  sped  off  to 
Spain  under  every  rag  of  sail. 

This  news  somewhat  altered  the  plans.  It  was 
clear  that  matters  could  not  wait  until  a  great  force 
was  mustered  from  all  quarters,  and  orders  were 
given  that  La  Cerda's  squadron,  with  four  more  ships, 
should  muster  in  Corunna,  ready  to  sail  with  all  the 
stores  and  men  then  ready,  as  soon  as  news  came 
from  Ireland  of  the  real  condition  of  affairs.     In  the 

^  Colonel  Semple's  idea  at  this  time  was  to  raise  the  number  of  mtn 
for  Ireland  to  6000,  and  to  send  an  embassy  to  Scotland  in  return  for 
his  brother's  mission  to  Sjjain  in  the  previous  year.  The  "  envoy  was 
to  be  secretly  instructed  to  assist  the  Catholics  and  endeavour  to  induce 
them  to  obtain  possession  of  the  little  Prince  (Henry).  If  this  be  done 
and  he  be  married  to  the  daugliter  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  the  Catholic 
faith  may  be  restored  in  Scotland."  Semple  also  thouglit  that  tlie 
West  Highlanders  might  be  induced  to  side  with  Spain,  "as  they  are 
greatly  devoted  to  the  Spaniards,  from  whom  they  boast  their  descent" 
(Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.). 


468  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

meanwhile  Aguila,shut  up  in  Kinsale,  had  been  grow- 
ing desperate.     Again  and  again  he  tried  to  cut  his 
way  out,  but  ineffectually  ;  and  finally,  on  the  last  day 
of  the  year  1601  (O.S.),  the  Spanish  general  prayed 
for  a  parley.     To  Sir  William  Godolphin,  who  met 
him,  he   expressed    his  disgust  at  the  Irish,   being 
"  not  only  weak  and  barbarous,  but,  as  he  feared, 
perfidious  friends,"^  and  finding  Montjoy  a  gentle- 
manly foe,  he  offered  terms  of  composition.     If  he 
might   depart    honourably    for  Spain,   with    all    his 
people,  arms,  and  stores,  he  was  willing  to  surrender 
to  the  English  the  garrisons   now  occupied   by  the 
Spaniards ;  but  otherwise,  he  said,  with  a  bit  of  true 
Spanish   swagger,  they   "would  rather  bury  them- 
selves alive,  and  endure  a  thousand  deaths,  than  to 
give  way  to  one  article  that  should  savour  of  baseness 
or  dishonour."     Aguila,  with  his  2000  good  fighting 
men,   might    doubtless,   as  he  said,   have   held   out 
for  a  considerable  time  longer,  but  he  plainly  con- 
fessed that,  after  Tyrone's  behaviour,  the  Irish  were 
not  worth  fighting  for.     For  the  English  the   pro- 
posal was  distinctly  advantageous,  since  Castlehaven, 
Dunboy,  and  Baltimore,  as  well  as  Kinsale,  were  to 
be  delivered  to  them  without  further  fighting,  and 
the  voluntary  retirement  of   the    Spanish  invading 
force  would  be  an  object-lesson  more  significant  to 
the  world  than  their  destruction  by  superior  num- 
bers.    Articles  were  accordingly  soon  agreed  upon 
for  the  Spaniards  to  leave,  with  all  their  property, 
peacefully   in  English    ships    bound    for    Spain,   of 
which  they  were  to  pay  the  freight. 

^  One  of  his  officers  went  further  ;  "  Surely,"  he  said,  "  Christ  never 
died  for  this  people." 


SURRENDER   OF   AGUILA  469 

Whilst  the  arrangements  were  being  made  for  the 
transport  of  the  Spaniards,  Aguila  and  his  principal 
officers  lived  with  the  Lord-Deputy  in  Cork,  and 
one  of  the  Spanish  pinnaces  sent  from  Corunna  to 
carry  the  King's  letter  already  mentioned,  and  others 
to  his  general,  came  into  Bantry.  Don  Juan  del 
Aguila  was  now  at  peace  with  England,  and  techni- 
cally had  a  right  to  receive  his  letters  without 
hindrance;  but  we  are  told  that  Montjoy's  "heart 
itched  "  to  know  what  was  in  them,  and  Carew,  who 
thought  everything  fair  in  war  against  the  Irish, 
arranged  to  have  the  courier  waylaid  and  robbed 
as  if  by  thieves,  and  the  letters  were  accordingly 
stolen  and  brought  to  Carew  whilst  Aguila  was  at 
dinner  with  him.  The  Spaniard,  when  he  heard  of 
the  treatment  of  his  courier,  was  indignant  and 
*'  vehemently  suspicious ; "  but  good  George  Carew 
lied  to  him  like  a  patriot,  and  offered  a  large  reward 
for  the  discovery  of  his  own  instruments.  The  letters 
may  now  be  read  in  "  Pacata  Hibernia,"  and  that 
of  the  King  in  the  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.,  and  con- 
firm the  account  of  the  active  preparations  in  Spain 
to  help  the  beleaguered  force,  which  I  have  already 
given  from  the  Simancas  manuscripts  ;  but,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  letters  came  too  late,  and  Don  Juan 
del  Aguila  and  the  last  of  his  men  sailed  out  of 
Kinsale  on  the  8th  March  1602,  with  a  "flattering 
gale,"  and  the  last  struggle  of  expiring  Spanish 
potency  to  force  Catholic  supremacy  upon  Eng- 
land through  Ireland  ended  thus  in  ignominious 
failure.^ 

'  Don  Juan  del  Aguila  had  carried  with  him  to  Ireland  a  large 
number  of  gold  chains,  to  the  value  of  2000  ducats,  and  ten  swords  of 


470  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Whilst  Don  Juan  was  feasting  in  dignified  fashion 
with  the  English  commanders  in  Cork  and  ex- 
changing mordant  witticisms  with  George  Carew, 
O'SuUivan  and  the  O'Driscolls  were  raging  and 
fuming.  Their  castles  and  harbours  had  been  volun- 
tarily handed  to  the  Spaniards,  to  hold  for  the  King ; 
not  to  surrender  to  the  English  without  striking  a 
blow.  For  Irish  chiefs  to  rebel  was  nothing  new^ 
and  nothing  very  heinous  ;  almost  every  great 
gentleman  in  Ireland  had  been  a  rebel  at  one  time 
or  another,  and  pardon  could  always  be  had  by  sub- 
mission. But  though  it  was  not  unpardonable  to 
rebel,  it  was  the  blackest  of  treason  to  surrender  the 
Queen's  dominion  to  the  King  of  Spain,  her  relent- 
less enemy.  The  O'Sullivans  and  O'Driscolls  had, 
doubtless,  thought  that  the  English  rule  over  Ire- 
land was  doomed,  and  had  sought  salvation  by  en- 
thusiastic adhesion  to  their  new  masters.  When 
they  found  that  they  had  made  a  mistake  their  rage 
and  dismay  knew  no  bounds.  Our  old  acquaint- 
ance, Pedro  Lopez  de  Soto,  who  was  in  command  at 
Castlehaven,  peacefully  delivered  the  place  to  Cap- 
tain Harvey  ;  but  before  the  force  to  occupy  it  had 
arrived,  the  O'Driscolls  slipped  into  the  fortress  and 
held  it  against  the  Spaniards.  Whilst  the  latter 
were  fighting  to  recover  it,  the  English  entered  the 
harbour  and  the  O'Driscolls  retired.     Baltimore  and 

honour,  to  be  distributed  amongst  the  Irish  chiefs  after  the  expected 
victory.  These  presents  were  taken  back  to  Spain  by  the  general,  and 
early  in  the  following  year  (1603)  an  interminable  discussion  took  place 
in  the  King's  Council  as  to  their  whereabouts  and  destination.  It  was 
at  last  agreed  that  the  chains  and  swords  should  be  again  sent  to  Ire- 
land in  the  new  expedition  of  aid  then  being  prepared  in  Corunna 
under  the  command  of  Don  Martin  de  la  Cerda,  but  which  never 
sailed. 


O'SULLIVAN   IN   DUNBOY  471 

Doneshead  were  delivered  by  the  Spaniards  without 
difficulty,  and  old  Sir  Finnan  O'Driscoll  surrendered 
himself  to  mercy,  whilst  his  more  warlike  sons, 
except  those  who  had  been  killed  before  Kinsale, 
lurked  in  hiding,  later,  as  will  be  told,  to  escape  to 
Spain. 

Dunboy  and  Bearhaven  were  a  more  difficult 
business.  The  first  English  company  of  nearly  200 
men  sent  in  a  hoy  from  Cork  to  receive  the  surrender 
were  driven  back  by  foul  weather  and  lost  fifty  or 
sixty  men  from  plague  ;  and  when,  finally,  an  Eng- 
lish force  appeared  before  Dunboy,  they  found  that 
Donal  O'SuUivan  had  been  before  them,  and  had 
surprised  his  own  fortress.  From  the  inside  the 
chief  and  his  servants  had,  in  the  dead  of  night, 
pierced  a  hole  through  the  wall  and  had  admitted 
eighty  of  his  clansmen,  with  Father  Archer  the 
Jesuit,  Thomas  Fitzmaurice,  Lord  of  Linxnaw, 
William  Burke,  Captain  Tyrrell,  and  others.  At 
daylight  the  priest  Archer  had  begged  the  Spanish 
Captain  Francisco  de  Saavedra  to  go  with  him  to 
O'Sullivan's  chamber.  There  he  was  told  by  the 
chief  that  he  (O'Sullivan)  would  hold  his  castle 
himself  for  the  King  of  Spain.  He  had  1000  armed 
clansmen  outside  and  80  inside  the  walls,  and  re- 
sistance was  useless.  The  Spaniards  were  all  dis- 
armed, not  unwillingly,  it  was  said,  and  most  of 
them  were  sent  to  Baltimore  and  so  to  Spain.  Aguila 
was  indignant,  and  wanted  to  recapture  the  place 
again  for  the  English,  but  INIontjoy  only  wished  to 
see  the  back  of  the  Spaniards  and  preferred  to 
conquer  O'Sullivan  himself. 

Before  this  happened,  O'Sullivan  wrote  the  second 


472  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

of  his  series  of  eloquent  letters  to  Spain. ^  It  was 
addressed  to  Count  Caracena,  the  Governor  of 
Galicia,  who  had  written  to  tell  him  that  O'Donnell 
was  coming  with  aid  to  Ireland.  Indignantly, 
O'Sullivan  tells  the  story  of  the  betrayal  of  his 
castle  by  Aguila.  "  If  this  place  of  mine  be  sur- 
rendered with  the  rest  to  the  enemy,  all  of  us  who 
are  faithful  to  his  Majesty  in  Munster  will  be  lost 
and  the  spirit  of  our  people  broken.  I,  by  God's 
grace,  can  serve  his  Majesty  anywhere  with  a 
thousand  men  armed  in  our  Irish  fashion,  and  will 
muster  them  at  my  own  cost  from  my  twenty  leagues 
of  well-protected  coast.  But  once  my  castle,  the 
chief  stronghold  of  my  land,  is  surrendered  to  the 
enemy,  I  shall  be  reduced  to  such  straits  that  my 
people  will  follow  my  castles,  and  the  Queen  of 
England  will  get  both.  I  must  take  refuge  in  the 
woods,  there  to  live  miserably  amongst  the  wild 
beasts  until  some  lure  entrap  me,  and  I  am  led  to 
my  death."  A  day  or  two  later  (February  22)  he 
wrote  a  series  of  letters  to  the  King,  to  Lerma,  to 
Zubiaur,  to  Caracena,  and  others,  all  in  the  same 
strain  of  indignant  determination.  He  would  lose, 
he  said,  2000  vassals  by  the  surrender  of  his  land, 
and  "  would  barely  find  twenty  to  follow  him  to  the 
woods  and  mountains,  there  to  live  like  wolves 
until  the  English  entrap  us."  In  the  Spanish 
despatch -boat  that  carried  these  heart-breaking 
epistles  to  Corunna,  O'Sullivan  sent  his  eldest  son 
and  other  boys  of  his  kin,  amongst  whom  was  the 
future  historian,  Philip  O'Sullevan,  with  Donal,  son 

^  Most  of  these  were  intercepted  and  are  in  "  Pacata  Hibernia,"  but 
there  are  two  others  in  the  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv.,  from  Simancas. 


THE   MARCH   OF   THE   O'SULLIVANS    473 

of  Sir  Finnan  O'Driscoll,  to  clamour  still  for  the 
Irish  who  were  holding  out  for  Spain  in  Dunboy. 

Of  the  heroic  defence  of  O'Sullivan's  castle  for 
four  long  months,  and  of  its  sanguinary  destruction  ; 
of  the  marvellous  march  of  O'Sullivan  and  his  clan 
through  the  west  of  Ireland  from  the  wilds  of  Glen- 
garrifi"  to  Connaught,  after  holding  out  for  a  whole 
year,  this  is  not  the  place  to  relate  in  detail.  The 
legends  and  ballads  of  Ireland  are  full  of  references 
to  the  heroism  which  led  the  O'Sullivans,  men, 
women,  and  children,  to  tbe  number  of  nearly  1000, 
over  rugged  mountains  and  sv^ollen  rivers,  fighting 
and  famishing,  two-thirds  the  length  of  Ireland, 
from  Bantry  Bay  to  the  O'Rourke  stronghold  at 
Leitrim,  there  to  arrive  a  poor  remnant  of  only  35 
spent  souls  whilst  Tyrone  was  already  making  good 
terms  with  the  English.  Thenceforward  O'Sullivan 
and  his  kinsmen  were  Spanish  nobles  and  Ireland 
knew  him  no  more ;  for,  plead  to  Elizabeth  as  he 
might  for  forgiveness,  his  crime  was  unpardonable. 
Devout  as  w^as  doubtless  his  Catholicism,  and  loud 
as  was  his  professed  detestation  of  English  rule,  we 
must  need  look  facts  in  the  face,  and  admit  that  his 
Homeric  struggle  was,  in  good  truth,  neither  for  his 
faith  nor  his  country,  but  only  for  the  O'Sullivan 
lands  and  lordships,  to  which  he  had  no  right  but 
the  favour  of  the  English  law,  and  which  he  had  by 
all  rules  forfeited  by  treason  against  the  sovereign  to 
whom  he  had  sworn  allegiance. 

The  news  of  Aguila's  capitulation  and  return  to 
Spain  caused  the  abandonment  of  the  preparations 
for  a  great  expedition  to  Ireland.  It  was  patent  to 
every  one   now  that  Tyrone  had  overstated  his  in- 


474  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

fluence,  and  was  a  weak  reed  upon  which  to  rest  the 
conquest  of  Ireland.  But  still  it  was  considered 
necessary  for  Spain  to  keep  up  English  alarm  by- 
supporting  the  Irish  who  were  in  arms.  O'Donnell 
in  Corunna  prayed  fervently  for  an  expedition  in 
force.  Writing  to  the  King  on  April  15,  1602,  he 
says  :  "  Promptness  is  the  very  essence  of  success. 
...  I  see  the  time  going  on  apace,  and  as  every 
hour  passes,  nearer  and  nearer  approaches  the  knife 
to  the  throats  of  the  faithful  band  of  brave,  sorely 
tried  people,  whose  hope  alone  is  in  God's  mercy 
and  in  your  Majesty's  pity.  I  cannot  help  repeating 
my  sorrowful  reminders.  .  .  .  If  I  do  not  arrive 
within  a  month  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  I  will  not 
say  with  2000  soldiers,  but  with  1500  or  even  1000, 
with  victuals,  munitions,  stores,  and  money,  to  raise 
5000  or  6000  natives,  and  to  sustain  the  war  by 
expelling  the  enemy  from  O'Neil's  country  and  my 
own,  I  doubt  if  a  large  force  arriving  from  your 
Majesty  even  in  June  will  be  in  time  to  find  any- 
thina:  there  but  the  blood  and  ashes  of  the  multitude 
of  faithful  believers  in  your  Majesty." 

O'Donnell's  plan  was  to  sail  at  once  for  Killibegs, 
which  he  would  make  his  base  of  operations,  and  to 
form  a  junction  with  O'Neil  by  Donegal  and  Sligo ; 
but  Caracena,  with  whom  he  stayed,  and  to  whom 
he  clamoured,  as  he  says,  day  and  night,  was  not  in 
favour  of  sending  hurriedly  a  small  number  of  men, 
but  rather  to  "  feed "  Tyrone  with  munitions,  food, 
and  money  until  a  larger  expedition  could  be  got 
ready.  At  last,  in  despair,  O'Donnell  prayed  that  if 
all  his  supplications  were  unavailing  he  should  at 
least  be  allowed  "  to  go  thither  myself  to  end  my 


DEATH   OF   O'DONNELL  475 

life  with  the  rest  of  the  Catholics  of  the  north." 
But  Philip  III.  could  not  think  of  such  a  thing,  and 
Red  Hugh  O'Donnell  could  only  weep  and  pray  for 
his  lost  cause.  At  length,  in  the  autumn  of  1602, 
the  beaten  chief  obtained  permission  to  go  to  court 
and  personally  urge  the  Irish  Catholic  cause  upon 
Philip  and  Lerma.  They  were  at  Valladolid,  and 
O'Donnell  with  his  train  was  lodged  seven  miles 
away,  in  the  ancient  castle  of  Simancas,  where  his 
beseeching  letters  were  first  transcribed  by  the  pre- 
sent writer.  There,  worn  out  with  grief  and  anxiety. 
Red  Hugh  was  seized  with  a  burning  fever,  and  the 
great  Irishman,  almost  the  only  one  of  the  chiefs 
who  displayed  any  real  disinterestedness  in  this 
struggle,  ended  his  short,  strenuous  life.  Whether  his 
end  was  hastened  by  the  poison  hinted  at  by  Carew 
or  not,  I  cannot  say,  but  probably  it  was  not.^  In 
any  case,  his  death  left  the  Irish  cause  with  no 
great-hearted  champion,  for  Tyrone  ruffled  and 
smiled  for  years  afterwards,  a  fine  gentleman  at  the 
English  court,  until  the  crafty  hands  of  James  and 
Cecil  fastened  upon  Ulster,  and  the  *'  plantation  "  of 
the  country  drove  out  of  it  the  race  that  looked 
upon  O'Neil  as  its  prince,  as  well  as  O'Neil  himself. 
O'Donnell's    faithful    confessor,    Father   Florence 

^  Carew  to  Montjoy. — May  28,  1602. — "James  Blake  of  Galway  .  .  . 
departed  from  me  and  is  gone  into  Spain,  with  a  determination,  bound 
by  many  oaths,  to  kill  O'Donnell.  God  give  him  strength  and  perse- 
verance "  (Carew  Papers). 

Same  to  the  same. — October  1602. — "O'Donnell  is  dead,  and  I  do 
think  it  will  fall  out  that  he  is  poisoned  by  James  Blake,  of  whom 
your  Lordship  hath  been  formerly  acquainted.  At  his  coming  into 
Spain  he  was  suspected  by  O'Donnell,  because  he  embarked  at  Cork 
under  my  authority,  but  afterwards  he  insinuated  his  access  and 
O'Donnell  is  dead"  (ibid.). 


476  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

Conroy,  continued  to  press,  as  his  master  had  done, 
for  help  to  the  Ulstermen ;  the  Adelantado  still  pro- 
pounded flighty  schemes  for  the  conquest  of  England 
and  Ireland,^  for  which  he  was  severely  snubbed  by 
the  Council ;  the  King's  confessor,  Father  Cordoba, 
assured  Philip  that  Tyrone  could  hold  out  until  the 
spring  (1603)  if  money  and  arms  were  sent  to  him 
by  La  Cerda  ;  and  one  O'Driscoll  after  the  other  came 
backwards  and  forwards  to  Corunna,  and  prayed 
fervently  that  something  should  be  done  for  the 
Munster  Catholics.  A  few  remittances  of  money 
and  stores  were  sent  to  them,  but  after  the  exodus 
of  the  O'Sullivans  and  the  submission  of  Tyrone, 
the  clamour  and  prayers  of  the  Irish  priests  and 
refugees  died  down.  Red  Hugh's  son,  like  O'Sulli- 
van,  became  a  Spanish  noble,  leaving  worthy  de- 
scendants to-day  in  the  higher  grandeeship ;  those 
of  the  O'Driscoll  blood  who  dared  not  go  back  to 
their  native  land  settled  down  into  Spanish  citizens  ; 
Tyrone  himself  long  afterwards  fled  and  saw  Ireland 
no  more.  Tyrone's  son  died  a  Spaniard,  fighting  for 
his  adopted  country  thirty  years  after  his  father's 
surrender,  and  thus  ingloriously  the  hope  flickered 
out  of  Spain's  great  dream.  Powerless  long  ago  to 
conquer  England,  as  she  first  dreamed  of  doing,  or 
of  carrying  Catholicism  by  force  across  the  Scottish 
border,  this  last  failure  brought  home  to  her  what  to 
the  rest  of  the  world  was  proved  by  evidence,  that 


^  In  the  spring  of  1602  the  Adelantado  was  full  of  a  great  scheme 
for  the  invasion  of  England  direct,  by  the  co-operation  of  a  force  of 
I4,cxx>  from  Spain  with  Federico  Spinola  from  Flanders,  who  could, 
he  said,  bring  11,000  Germans,  Walloons,  and  Italians  in  galleys  from 
a  Flemish  port. 


SPAIN'S   WANING   DREAM  477 

her  administration  had  lost  honesty  and  grip,  that 
her  sailors  had  lost  boldness,  that  her  captains  had 
lost  skill,  and  that  lier  people  had  lost  everything. 
Craft  and  cunning  might  yet  prevail,  but  by  force  of 
arms  nerveless  Spain  could  aspire  no  more  to  dictate 
the  religion  of  England. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

Mission  of  Thomas  James  to  Spain — The  policy  of  Philip  towards  the 
English  succession — Discussion  in  the  Council  of  State — The  new 
policy  adopted  too  late. — Cecil's  conduct — Dynastic  intrigues  in 
England  —  Arabella  Stuart's  strange  behaviour — Suggested  ex- 
planation—  Lord  Beauchamp  —  Attempted  flight  of  Arabella — 
Death  of  Elizabeth — Cecil  triumphant — Extinction  of  the  last 
hope  of  Catholic  supremacy  by  means  of  foreign  intervention. 

The  only  result  of  the  repeated  petitions  of  the 
English  Catholics  urged  upon  Philip  by  Father 
Persons  in  Rome  and  Father  Creswell  in  Madrid, 
and  of  the  recommendations  of  the  King's  Council 
detailed  in  chapter  xii.,  had  been  the  transmission 
of  a  message  to  the  Duke  of  Sessa  and  Persons, 
informing  them  of  the  King's  intention  to  adopt 
the  candidature  of  his  half-sister  the  Infanta  to  the 
crown  of  England.  Persons  was  to  convey  this  in- 
telligence to  a  very  few  only  of  the  leading  Catholics 
in  England,  the  rank  and  file  being  simply  assured 
generally  that  the  King  of  Spain  had  not  forgotten 
them,  and  would  help  them  when  the  time  came. 
The  messenger  by  whom  the  English  Catholics  com- 
municated with  Father  Persons  was  one  Thomas 
James,  a  rich  London  merchant  settled  in  Spain,^ 
and  this  man  carried  from  Rome  to  his  Catholic- 
Jesuit  countrymen  in  Flanders  the  decision  which 

1  An  account  of  this  man  will  be  found  in  Hatfield  Papers,  vol.  viii. 
He  lived  when  at  home  at  San  Lucar,  but  travelled  much.  He  com- 
municated with  the  Catholics  in  England  through  his  brother,  Francis 

James,  a  merchant  in  Bread  Street,  London. 

478 


THE    MISSION   OF   THOMAS  JAMES    479 

had  been  sent  to  Sessa  and  Persons  from  Madrid. 
The  uncompromising  section  to  which  he  was  ac- 
credited were  not  likely  to  be  satisfied  with  so  vague 
a  message,  and  determined  to  make  another  effort, 
before  it  was  too  late,  to  urge  the  slothful  Spaniards 
to  action. 

AVith  their  renewed  instances  Thomas  James 
arrived  at  the  Spanish  court  in  the  early  spring 
of  1602.  He  assured  the  King  that  "he  found  the 
Archduke  well  disposed,  and  the  English  Catholics 
anxious  to  participate  in  an  action  so  conducive  to 
the  interests  of  the  Catholic  Church.  But  they  were 
so  loyal  to  the  King  of  Spain  that  they  would  take 
no  steps  without  his  orders,  and,  consequently,  the 
Archduke  had  sent  him  (James)  to  Spain,  to  make 
the  proposals  to  the  King  himself.  They  had 
directed  him  to  assure  the  King  how  they  rejoiced 
at  the  news,  and  how  humbly  they  thanked  him  for 
choosing  such  princes  (i.e.  the  Archduke  and  the 
Infanta)  for  their  sovereigns."  This  was  all  very 
well,  but  whether  Thomas  James  and  his  country- 
men in  Flanders  understood  it  or  not,  it  really  meant 
that  the  Archduke  would  not  raise  a  finger  until 
he  was  assured  that  sufficient  support  would  be  sent 
to  him  from  Spain  to  enforce  his  wife's  claim  against 
all  competitors.  He  and  the  Infanta  were  in  the 
midst  of  their  hard  struggle  with  Maurice  of  Nassau, 
a  struggle  which  had  already  reduced  their  princi- 
pality to  desolation,  and  almost  to  despair ;  and  they 
knew  that  to  make  an  open  offensive  war  upon 
England  at  the  same  time  was  absolutely  beyond 
their  power.  They  were  middle-aged  people,  and 
were  aware  that  they  would  be  childless  ;  in  addition 


48o  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

to  which,  as  we  have  seen,  then*  succession  to  the 
English  crown  was  clogged  with  the  condition  of 
their  surrendering  the  dominions  which  they  had 
inherited ;  and  it  is  therefore  not  surprising  that 
they  displayed  no  enthusiasm  in  accepting  the  im- 
practicable task  so  vaguely  suggested  to  them.  It 
was  Thomas  James's  mission  from  the  English 
Catholics  to  obtain  some  practical  decision  from 
the  King,  instead  of  the  hollow,  sanctimonious 
bombast  with  which  for  years  they  had  been  put 
off,  and  to  this  end  they  submitted  a  list  of  sug- 
gestions. The  Archduke,  they  thought,  should 
make  Ireland  his  base,  and  a  large  Spanish  naval 
force  and  arsenals  should  be  established  there ;  ^  and 
that  the  King  should  publicly  and  formally  transfer 
his  rights  to  the  English  crown  to  the  Archduke 
and  the  Infanta.  Money,  too,  must  be  sent  to 
Flanders,  in  order  that  Dr.  Garnet,  the  Provincial 
of  the  Jesuits  in  England,  might  carry  on  his  work 
of  gaining  political  adherents.  Twenty  galleys  and 
thirty  ships  should  be  maintained  in  Flemish  har- 
bours, ready  for  use  at  the  critical  moment,  and, 
besides  the  troops  who  will  go  in  them,  they  should 
carry  arms  sufficient  to  equip  6000  or  7000  English- 
men on  their  arrival.  This  force  should  be  supple- 
mented by  forty  other  ships,  standing  ready  in  Spain 
to  convey  a  like  number  of  men  to  England  at  the 
same  time.  They  (the  English  Catholics)  were  quite 
confident  of  success  if  these  measures  were  promptly 
adopted,  for  the  King  of  Scots  was  very  unpopular, 
and  their  friends  in  England  were  numerous.     "  Even 

1  It  must  be  recollected  that  this  was  written  before  the  capitulation 
of  Kinsale  was  known  in  Flanders. 


MISSION   OF   THOMAS  JAMES        481 

the  heretics  in  office  in  England  are  only  anxious  to 
keep  their  places,  and  may  easily  be  bought,  and 
they  will  then  gradually  gain  others  to  our  side." 

But  the  Council  could  only  report  to  the  King  in 
reply  to  all  this  that  he  had  not  a  ducat  to  spare. 
The  large  sum  which  it  had  been  decided  to  send  to 
Flanders  for  the  purpose  two  years  before  had  never 
been  sent.  "  Indeed,"  they  told  Philip,  "  nothing 
whatever  had  been  done,  although  the  case  was  very 
important."  J3ut  they  sadly  confessed  that  now 
much  more  than  200,000  ducats  would  be  needed. 
The  army  in  Flanders  should  be  reinforced  and  the 
vSpanish  fleet  mustered,  ready  for  the  pretended  pro- 
tection of  Spain  and  Italy,  but  the  Council  knew 
well  that  with  an  empty  treasury  all  this  was  im- 
possible. O'Donnell  and  the  Irishmen  were  fretting 
their  hearts  out  for  a  tithe  of  the  sum  demanded  by 
the  English  Catholics,  and  even  that  could  not  be 
provided.  "  If  the  money  can  be  found  for  all  this," 
the  Council  told  Philip,  "  the  blow  can  be  struck  at 
the  right  moment,  and  in  force  sufficient ;  but  if  not, 
the  Council  can  only  repeat  what  it  has  already  said 
when  the  affair  of  Scotland  was  under  discussion."  ^ 

At  the  same  time  the  notorious  George  Ker,  who, 
it  will  be  recollected,  had  formerly  served  the  King 
of  Scots  as  a  Catholic  emissary,  came  to  Madrid — 
apparently  on  his  own  account  this  time,  and  as  a 
matter  of  business — to  urge  Philip  to  persevere  in 
helping  Tyrone  (whose  defeat  was  now  known)  by 
means  of  a  large  employment  of  Scottish  ships  and 
men,  and  by  the  purchase,  through  Ker,  of  course, 

'  That  is  lo  say,  to  couciliate  the  interests  which  they  could  not  suc- 
cessfully oppose,  and  make  tlie  best  terms  possible  with  James. 

2  H 


482  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

of  a  number  of  armed  vessels,  to  hold  the  Irish 
coast  for  the  Spaniards.  Nothing,  however,  came 
of  this  either ;  for  it  all  meant  money,  and  of 
money  there  was  none  to  spare  under  such  a  king 
as  Philip  III.,  and  such  a  Minister  as  the  Duke  of 
Lerma. 

But  still,  the  constant  advices  received  from 
England  of  the  failing  health  of  the  Queen  made 
it  necessary  that  some  move  should  be  devised, 
unless  the  worst  possible  solution  for  Spain  was 
to  be  adopted  on  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  without  an 
attempt  to  prevent  it.  In  November  (1602),  accord- 
ingly, Father  Creswell  once  more  urged  upon  Philip 
to  take  up  the  matter  actively.  Galleys  and  troops, 
he  said,  should  be  mustered  in  Flanders,  to  hasten 
to  England  the  moment  the  Queen  should  die  ;  the 
Spanish  fleet  should  be  kept  ready  to  sail ;  foreign 
ships  should  be  freighted  :  all  the  old  counsels  of 
activity  and  expenditure  were  repeated,  for  the 
claimants  were  many,  said  Creswell,  and  Spanish 
aid  at  the  right  moment  would  turn  the  scale. 
When  this  minute  of  Father  Creswell's  came  for 
examination  before  the  Council  of  State,  utter 
helplessness  dictated  their  report  upon  it.  *'  Father 
Creswell  should  be  thanked  for  reminding  your 
Majesty  of  the  papers  he  sent  last  year ;  but  it  is 
difficult  to  know  what  to  say  about  them,  as  they 
recommend  the  taking  up  of  the  English  enterprise  ; 
and  things  are  here  in  such  a  condition  as  to  make 
this  impossible."  This  was  on  the  5th  December 
1602  (N.S.),  and  up  to  this  time  it  is  evident  that 
nothing  whatever  had  been  done  to  comply  with  the 
petitions  of  the  English   Catholics,   or  to  promote 


SPANISH    POLICY   CHANGED         483 

effectually    a    large    party    in    England    pledged    to 
support  Spanish  Jesuit  aims. 

Spaniards  had  been  too  proud  to  confess  it,  but 
it  was  now  quite  clear  that  the  aims  themselves, 
so  far  as  they  depended  upon  forcing  the  Infanta 
upon  England  as  Elizabeth's  successor,  were  abso- 
lutely impracticable  and  impossible.  In  any  case, 
only  by  means  of  overwhelming  force  or  popular 
consent  could  such  a  course  have  been  feasible. 
That  Spain  could  no  longer  wield  such  a  force  was 
demonstrated,  and  that  the  general  feeling  even 
of  Catholics  in  England  was  violently  opposed  to 
a  Spanish  sovereign  and  to  Jesuit  methods,  was 
proved  by  a  hundred  signs  ;  and  more  than  all  else, 
by  the  bitter  antagonism  of  the  English  secular 
priests,  and  by  the  wholesale  desertion  to  other 
orders  of  the  Church  of  the  English  students  in 
seminaries  controlled  by  Jesuits.  But  it  needed  a 
bold  man  to  tell  the  truth  to  Philip,  and  to  propose 
means  for  making  the  best  of  matters  as  they  were. 
The  bold  man  was  found  in  Guzman,  that  haughty, 
rough-tongued  Count  of  Olivares,  who  had  lectured 
and  bullied  Pontiffs  for  years  as  Spanish  ambassador 
in  Rome.  What  was  the  good,  he  asked,  of  talk- 
ing any  longer  of  the  Archduke  and  the  Infanta? 
Neither  of  them  cared  for  the  candidature  :  the 
King  had  no  money  or  resources  sufficient  to  force 
the  Infanta  on  the  English  throne  against  the  will 
of  the  nation  ;  nor  would  it  be  to  his  interest  to  do 
so,  even  if  he  could.  Why  not  face  the  facts  at  once, 
and  promise  support  to  the  most  popular  English 
Catholic  claimant,  and  thus,  at  all  events,  keep  out 
the  King  of  Scots,  who  would  otherwise  walk  into 


484  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

the  succession  without  an  effort  ?  This  was  very 
un-Spanish  in  its  practical  directness,  and  it  took 
the  King  and  the  Council  of  State  two  months 
before  they  sufficiently  recovered  from  the  shock  to 
discuss  and  decide  upon  the  matter  finally  for  the 
King's  guidance. 

On  the  5th  February  and  the  2nd  March  1603 
(N.S.),  accordingly,  the  whole  matter  of  Spain's  policy 
towards  the  English  succession  was  passed  under 
review  in  the  light  of  this  new  idea.  The  English 
(Jatholics,  for  whom  Persons  and  Creswell  spoke, 
had  in  the  interim  again  urged,  through  the  latter, 
that  Philip  should  either  make  effective  preparations 
for  action  on  the  Queen's  death,  or  else  relieve  them 
of  their  pledges  to  support  the  Infanta  or  any  other 
Spanish  nominee.  If  they  knew  that  they  had  to 
depend  only  upon  themselves,  they  might  take  some 
course  advantageous  to  their  cause  ;  but  if  they  were 
kept  in  suspense  until  a  vacancy  occurred,  they  were 
certain  that  the  King  of  Scotland  would  succeed. 
They  rather  indignantly  pointed  out  that,  after  all 
their  years  of  devotion  to  Spain,  they  and  their  cause 
were  likely  to  be  ruined  by  the  fault  of  the  Catholic 
King.  In  addition  to  this,  Zuniga,  the  ambassador, 
had  been  told  by  Henry  IV.,  that  if  Philip  would 
agree  with  him  to  nominate  a  neutral  King  of  Eng- 
land, he  would  support  him,  but  if  Spain  endea- 
voured to  foist  the  Infanta,  or  any  other  avowedly 
Spanish  candidate  upon  the  throne,  he  (Henry  IV.) 
would  throw  in  his  weight  on  the  side  of  the  King 
of  Scots.  The  problem  was  thus  complicated : 
Heniy  must  be  excluded,  but  yet  prevented  from 
helping  James.    All  this  made  it  necessary  to  discuss 


SPAIN   FACKS   THE   FACTS  485 

again  the  whole  of  the  candidates  proposed  three 
years  before  by  the  Ent^lish  Jesuit  Catholics  through 
Father  Persons.  The  Infanta  was  ruled  out,  for  the 
reasons  already  stated,  and  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  and 
Parma  were  dropped,  because  they  were  foreigners 
connected  with  Spain,  and  would  be  opposed  by 
France.  The  only  candidate,  therefore,  remaining 
on  the  list  presented  by  Persons  in  1600  was  the 
son  of  the  Earl  of  Worcester  (Henry  Somerset,  Lord 
Herbert),  but  no  specific  reference  to  him  was  made 
in  the  new  discussion. 

It  was  considered  by  the  Council  the  absolute 
duty  of  the  King  to  bring  England,  if  possible,  into 
the  Catholic  fold  ;  and  with  this  end  the  Catholics 
of  England  were  to  be  given  to  understand  that  he 
had  no  temporal  interest  of  his  own  to  serve ;  no 
desire  to  control  England  or  promote  his  own  house. 
They  (the  English  Catholics)  had  formerly  prayed 
him  to  adopt  the  Infanta,  and  he  had  done  so ;  but 
if  there  were  any  other  Catholic  candidate  of  their 
own  nation  who  would  be  more  likely  to  unite  the 
country,  the  King  of  Spain  would  cede  his  own 
rights  to  him  and  help  him  with  might  and  main. 
He  (the  King),  for  his  part,  will  immediately  make 
ready  for  the  eventuality,  and  urges  the  Catholics 
to  choose  their  candidate,  but  not  to  announce  his 
name  prematurely.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  Council 
prayed  the  King  to  have  ships  fitted  out  with  all 
speed  in  Spain,  a  large  sum  of  money  sent  to 
Flanders,  and  means  devised  for  raising  money  in 
the  abundance  required.  Count  de  Miranda  here 
put  in  a  word  of  reason.  He  thought  they  liad 
better  sec  first  whether  they   could  raise  any  money, 


486  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

and  in  the  meanwhile  avoid  oflfending  the  King; 
of  Scots  by  taking  sides  against  him,  until  they 
knew  they  could  crush  him.  But  Poza  said  it  would 
be  better  to  have  any  heretic  there  rather  than 
James ;  and  again  Olivares  came  down  with  his  cool 
douche  of  common  sense.  He  had  always  insisted, 
he  said,  that  the  greatness  of  the  empire  did  not 
consist  of  a  further  extension  of  territory,  and  to 
help  an  English  candidate  for  the  throne  was  the 
only  way  to  exclude  James.  As  for  listening  to  the 
canting  professions  of  the  latter  of  his  readiness  to 
become  a  Catholic  and  surrender  his  son  in  return 
for  the  payment  of  a  sum  of  money  and  the  support 
of  Spain,  he  did  not  believe  a  word  of  it,  nor  of 
the  talk  of  the  Italian  and  French  priests  about  the 
King  of  Scots'  conversion.  But  still,  he  would  not 
quite  shut  the  door  even  against  James,  in  case  of 
unavoidable  eventualities. 

The  great  thing  now  was  that  no  time  should  be 
lost  in  assuring  the  English  Catholics  of  effective 
support  for  the  Catholic  candidate  of  their  choice ; 
their  hatred  of  the  Scots  should  be  fomented  ;  very 
liberal  promises  of  reward  should  be  given  to  all 
prominent  Catholics  and  heretics,  "  almost  without 
distinction,"  and  the  various  other  claimants  and 
their  principal  supporters  should  have  given  to 
them  "  estates,  incomes,  offices,  grants,  privileges, 
and  exemptions ;  almost,  indeed,  sharing  the  crown 
amongst  them."  Olivares  recommended,  too,  that 
the  anti-foreign  cry  should  be  promoted  as  much  as 
possible  in  England  ;  whilst  the  people  should  be 
persuaded  that  the  mighty  King  of  Spain  was 
behind  the   chosen  English  candidate,  not   for  his 


NEW   SPANISH    PLANS  487 

own  ends,  bnt  in  order  that  England  might  be 
happy,  and  prosperously  governed  by  a  native  King 
of  her  own  free  choice.  If  possible,  moreover,  the 
Queen's  Ministers  were  to  be  reconciled  to  the 
Catholics,  and  peace  negotiations  with  them  again 
initiated  by  Spain.  The  Pope,  and  through  him  the 
King  of  France,  as  well  as  the  English  themselves, 
were  to  be  greatly  impressed  with  the  splendid 
magnanimity  ot"  Philip  in  surrendering  his  paramount 
claims  to  the  English  crown  for  the  sake  of  the 
Catholic  Church  and  the  tranquillity  of  England. 

All  these  points  were  discussed  ad  nauseam,  the 
object  mainly  being  to  save  appearances,  and  to  con- 
vince the  world  that  the  change  of  front  was  made 
from  generosity,  and  not  from  want  of  power ;  and 
tlie  Pope  especially  was  to  be  made  an  instrument 
for  spreading  this  view  of  the  subject  and  for  dis- 
arming the  King  of  France.  At  the  same  time  it 
was  made  clear  that  Spain  still  intended,  if  she 
could,  by  religious  chicanery  to  monopolise  power  in 
England.  The  troops  in  Flanders  were  to  be  landed 
in  the  Thames,  or  at  any  other  point  requested  by 
the  chosen  candidate  ;  the  Spanish  ships  were  to 
land  another  force  in  the  north-west  of  England,  as 
near  to  the  Scottish  border  as  possible.  The  King- 
elect  would  take  care  that  the  English  fleet  would 
be  no  longer  dangerous  to  the  Spanish  ships ;  and 
Olivares  thought  that  when  the  question  of  the 
gratitude  of  the  new  King  towards  Spain  came  to  be 
discussed,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  obtaining 
the  cession  of  the  Isle  of  AVight.  On  no  account 
should  an  English  port  on  the  mainland  be  accepted 
by  Spain,  even  if  offered,  to  avoid  offending  France 


488  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

or  arousing  English  suspicion ;  and  if  Henry  IV. 
was  very  much  discontented  about  Spain  getting  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  he  might  have  the  Channel  Islands 
to  keep  him  quiet.  The  whole  business  was  to  be 
cautiously  disclosed  to  Persons  first,  and  to  Cres- 
well^  after  arrangements  had  been  made  with  the 
Pope ;  and  when  the  time  for  action  came,  Father 
Persons  was  to  hurry  from  Rome  to  Flanders  and 
cross  to  England  as  cardinal  with  full  power. 

This  was  the  plan  finally  adopted  by  Spain  for 
making  England  Catholic,  and  some  activity  really 
seems  to  have  been  exercised  in  obtaining  the  money 
necessary  for  the  purpose ;  but  before  the  English 
Catholics  themselves  could  be  fully  enlightened,  it 
was  considered  necessary  for  Persons  and  Sessa  to 
make  sure  of  the  Pope,  and  through  him  of  the 
King  of  France.  Father  Creswell,  in  the  mean- 
while, was  chafing  with  impatience.  His  principals 
in  England  were  sending  him  constant  news  of  the 
growing  weakness  of  the  Queen  and  the  impatience 
of  the  Catholics  who  looked  to  Spain.  Creswell  in 
the  months  of  February  and  March  haunted  Lerma's 
ante-chambers,  and  prayed  personally  and  by  letter 
for  a  resolution  that  he  might  transmit  to  England. 
If  he  did  not  get  one  at  once,  he  said,  he  would 
wash  his  hands  of  the  whole  business,  and  tell  the 
English  Catholics  that  they  must  take  their  own 
course,  for  he  had  lost  hope.  A  person  upon  whom 
entire  dependence  could  be  placed,  Federico  Spinola, 
or  another,  would  have  to  be  appointed  in  Flanders 

^  It  was  decided  that  Creswell  should  be  told  at  ouce  if  news  came 
that  Elizabeth  was  like  to  die.  This  was  the  case,  and  CresAvell  was 
told  in  March. 


FINAL  ARRANGEMENTS  489 

to  make  the  final  arrangements  with  the  leading 
Catholics  in  England,  and  to  act  when  the  moment 
camo  ;  the  self-denying,  soft-spoken  proclamation  to 
be  published  in  England  when  the  Spanish  troops 
landed  must  be  printed  and  sent  to  Flanders  to  be 
ready ;  and,  above  all,  urged  Ores  well,  the  one  hun- 
dred thousand  ducats  which  had  been  promised  for 
transmission  to  the  English  Catholics  should  at  once 
be  obtained  from  Ambrosio  Spinola,  who  had  agreed 
to  lend  it.  "  Otherwise,"  says  Creswell,  "  1  must 
have  permission  to  undeceive  the  persons  to  whom 
the  promise  was  made.  They  have  spent,  and  are 
spending,  money  on  the  public  service,  trusting  to 
the  pledge  given  to  their  messenger  (Thomas  James  ?) 
by  the  Count  dc  Miranda  at  San  Lorenzo,  and  the 
delay  in  the  matter  looks  very  bad.  They  are,  more- 
over, persons  of  so  much  importance  that  the  whole 
success  of  the  affair  depends  upon  keeping  them  : 
and  this  can  only  be  done  by  straightforward  and 
punctual  dealing."  ^ 

It  is  plain  from  this  that  Creswell  had  now — the 
middle  of  March  1603  (N.S.) — been  informed  of  the 
whole  plan,  and  was  hurriedly  making  the  arrange- 
ments for  at  least  the  remittance  to  Flanders  of  the 
money  to  be  used  in  gaining  English  support ;  and 
as  this  money  had  been  promised  by  Ambrosio 
Spinola  on  loan,  it  may  be  concluded  that  it  was 
duly  forwarded  before  Elizabeth's  death  was  known 
in  Spain,  although  it  cannot  have  arrived  in  Flan- 
ders until  after  the  event. 

At  the  same  time  as  these  deliberations  were  pro- 

^  All  the  papers  rtferred  to  above  are  in  the  Simancas  ilPS.,  and 
are  printed  in  the  Spanish  Calendar,  vol.  iv. 


490  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

ceediug,  one  more  effort  was  made  by  the  Scottish 
Catholics  to  revive  the  plan  suggested  by  Bothwell 
in  the  previous  year,  to  restore  Catholicism  in  Scot- 
land by  means  of  Spanish  troops.  The  Scottish  lords 
sent  Fernihurst  (Andrew  Ker)  to  Madrid  with  pro- 
posals to  this  end  in  March  1603.  He,  Colonel 
Semple,  and  Bothwell  were  urgent  and  persistent  in 
their  prayers  to  Philip,  and  the  offers  they  made 
would  perhaps,  at  another  time,  have  been  tempt- 
ing. They  would  establish  the  faith  in  Scotland,  re- 
inforce Ireland  with  troops  and  stores,  and  trouble 
the  Queen  of  England  from  the  west  coast  of  Scot- 
land. They  would  surrender  to  the  King  of  Spain 
the  four  great  fortresses  of  Scotland,  Dumbarton, 
Broughty,  Blackness,  and  Hermitage,  and  in  the 
event  of  war  between  Spain  and  England,  would 
provide  a  mercenary  army  of  26,000  Scotsmen  to 
help  the  Spaniards.  All  they  asked  in  return  was 
that  a  force  of  4000  Spaniards  should  be  sent  to 
Scotland  at  the  cost  of  Spain ;  and  they  promised  for 
repayment  that,  on  the  restoration  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  a  third  of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  of  the 
country  should  be  set  apart  until  the  whole  of  the 
cost  was  reimbursed  to  the  Spanish  King.  Bothwell 
tried  hard  also  to  make  terms  for  his  own  reconcilia- 
tion with  James  as  part  of  the  arrangement,  but  the 
Spaniards  declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with  that ; 
and  as  the  whole  proposal  was,  like  all  previous  ones 
from  the  same  quarter,  open  to  the  suspicion  that 
in  the  end  the  King  of  Scots  alone  might  benefit 
by  it,  the  Spanish  King  and  Council  discussed  it 
unsympathetically,  until  the  great  news  of  James's 
peaceful  accession  to  England  rendered  it  obsolete. 


CECIL'S   ATTITUDE  491 

Whilst  the  fate  of  England  was  thus  being  dis- 
cussed and  decided  in  leisurely  fashion  in  Spain, 
matters  in  England  itself  were  rapidly  nearing  the 
crisis.  The  secret  of  Sir  Robert  Cecil's  close  under- 
standing with  James  had  been  well  kept  even  from 
the  most  intimate  friends  of  the  former/  There 
were  plenty  of  courtiers  besides  Cecil  who  sought 
the  smiles  of  the  rising  sun,  and  their  private 
advice  to  the  coming  King  was  duly  conveyed  by 
the  latter  to  Cecil.  It  was  natural,  of  course,  that 
Elizabeth's  officers  and  ministers  should  look  with 
some  anxiety  to  the  future.  The  Queen  was  old 
and  ailing,  a  disputed  succession  would  inevitably 
mean  civil  war,  and  probably  foreign  invasion,  and 
yet,  so  far  as  could  be  seen,  the  man  who  was  of  all 
others  most  responsible  for  the  prosperity  and  order 
of  the  country  was  detached  from  every  interest  in 
the  matter  and  free  from  anxiety  for  the  future. 
His  own  political  associates  looked  to  him  for  a  lead 
but  did  not  get  it.  They  knew  that  the  traditional 
policy  he  had  inherited  was  to  keep  Scotland  and 
France  at  arm's  length  by  a  friendship  of  England 
with  Flanders  and  Spain ;  they  saw  that  the  talk 
of  peace  with  these  powers  always  found  a  ready 
listener  in  Cecil,  and  that  practically  peace  now 
existed  between  the  new  sovereigns  of  Flanders  and 
the  Queen.  Surely,  thought  those  members  of  the 
"Moderate"  party  who  had  always  followed  I^ord 
Burghley  and   his   son,    "  Mr.    Secretary "    will    not 

'  Cecil  was  in  such  fear  tliat  the  correspondence  nii,L;ht  be  discovered 
that  on  one  occasion  he  prayed  Jajnes  not  to  write  to  him  direct,  but 
only  through  T^ord  Henry  Howard.  James,  however,  still  continued 
to  send  some  of  his  letters  to  Cecil. 


492  TREASON    AND    PLOT 

stand  helplessly  by  and  see  his  OAvn  ruin  consum- 
mated by  the  unchecked  accession  of  a  King  whose 
national  policy  had  always  been  that  of  Cecil's 
enemies.  Ralegh,  his  old  friend,  Cobham,  his 
brother-in-law,  and  others  like  them,  tried  to  draw 
from  him  some  expression  of  his  sympathies  and 
intentions,  and  that  he  purposely  deceived  them  is 
seen  by  his  own  ungenerous  words  written  to  James 
on  the  subject :  "This  I  do  profess  in  the  presence 
of  Him  that  knoweth  and  searcheth  all  men's  harts, 
that  if  I  dyd  not  some  tyme  cast  a  stone  into  the 
mouth  of  these  gaping  crabbs,  when  they  are  in 
their  prodigal  humour  of  discourses,  they  would  not 
stick  to  confess  dayly  how  contrary  it  is  to  their 
nature  to  resolve  to  be  under  your  sovereignty, 
though  they  confess  (Ralegh  especially)  that  {rebus 
sic  stantibus)  natural  policy  forceth  them  to  keep 
on  foot  such  a  trade  against  the  great  day  of  mart. 
In  all  which  light  and  sudden  humours  of  his, 
though  I  do  no  way  check  him,  because  he  shall 
not  think  I  reject  his  freedom  or  his  affection,  but 
alwaies  {sub  sigillis  confessionis)  use  contestation 
with  him  that  I  neyther  had,  nor  would  ever  in 
individuo  contemplate  future  idea,  nor  ever  hoped 
for  more  than  justice  in  time  of  change,  yet  under 
pretext  of  extraordinary  care  for  his  well  doing  I 
have  seemed  to  dissuade  him  from  engaging  himself 
too  farr  even  for  himself,  much  more  therefore  to 
forbeare  to  assume  for  me  or  my  present  inten- 
tions."^ Such  talk  as  this  from  Cecil  to  Ralegh 
under  the  circumstances  the  latter  must  have  known 

'  Letters  of  James  VI.  and  Sir  Robert  Cecil.     Ilattield  (published 
by  the  Camden  Society). 


BETRAYAL  OF  THE  MODERATES  493 

to  be  insincere.  Jt  was  evidently  intended  to  pre- 
vent an  approach  of  Ralegh  to  James,  and  to 
encourage  him  to  proceed  with  any  plans  he  might 
have  for  arranging  the  succession  on  the  traditional 
lines  of  the  party  to  which  both  he  and  Cecil  be- 
longed. That  this  was  the  case  is  seen  by  Cecil's 
anger,  expressed  in  his  letter  to  the  King  that  the 
Duke  of  Lennox,  who  had  recently  passed  through 
London,  should  have  approached  Ralegh  and  others 
of  the  Cecil  party  with  the  object  of  gaining  them 
to  the  King's  side.^  A  more  startling  proof  still  is 
seen  in  the  dastardly  letter  from  Lord  Henry  Howard 
to  Cecil,^  suggesting  how  Ralegh,  Northumberland, 
Oobham,  and  others  of  the  party  should  be  led 
astray  and  ruined,  both  in  the  eyes  of  Elizabeth 
and  of  James.  "  So  must  you  embark  this  gallant 
Cobham  by  your  wit  and  interest  in  some  course 
the  Spanish  waie,  as  either  may  reveale  his  weak- 
ness or  snare  his  ambition.  ...  Be  not  unwilling 
...  to  engage  him  in  the  traffic  with  suspected 
ministers,  and  upon  the  first  occasion  of  further 
treaty  (with  Spain)  to  make  him  the  Minister.  For 
my  part,  I  account  it  impossible  for  him  to  scape  the 
snares  which  wit  may  set  and  weakness  is  apt  to  fall 
into."  By  this  it  is  evident  that  it  was  the  delibe- 
rate plan  of  Cecil  and  his  ame  damnee,  Howard,  to 
use  Cobham  and  Ralegh  especially  as  their  uncon- 
scious instruments.  To  tempt  them  by  half  hints, 
opportunity,  and  significant  glances  to  enter  into  any 
negotiation  tending  against  the  candidature  of  the 

1  Letters  of  James  VI.  and  Sir  Robert  Cecil.     Hatfield  (published 
by  the  Camdeu  Society). 

-  British  Museum  MSS,,  Cotton.  Titus,  cvi.  386. 


494  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

King  of  Scots,  with  the  double  object  of  allowing 
Cecil  to  keep  in  touch  with  and  frustrate  any 
intrigue  that  was  afoot,  and  of  ruining  friends  who 
might  possibly  become  rivals. 

How  far  the  Jesuit  intrigues  for  the  succession 
really  extended  in  England  it  is  now  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  decide.  We  have  seen  by  the  deliberations 
of  the  Spanish  Council  and  by  Father  Creswell's 
importunities  that  no  decided  action  was  taken  or 
any  large  sums  of  money  sent  from  Spain  to  the 
English  Catholics  in  Flanders,  at  least  until  within 
a  week  or  ten  days  before  Elizabeth's  death,  and  it 
was  not  possible  for  the  100,000  ducats  promised  to 
have  reached  Brussels  in  time  for  employment  before 
that  event.  But  we  have  also  Creswell's  word  for  it 
that  his  principals  were  already  spending  consider- 
able sums  of  money  by  anticipation,  and  it  may  be 
concluded  that  the  English  Catholics  of  the  Jesuit 
party  were  acquainted  with  the  probable  intention 
of  Spain  to  help  any  acceptable  native  Catholic 
chosen  by  them  in  place  of  the  Infanta,  as  their 
candidate  for  the  English  throne,  before  the  discus- 
sion in  the  Spanish  Council  of  the  zVve^via^  1603. 
This  being  the  case,  we  shall  be  safe  in  assuming 
that  any  movement  at  about  this  period  amongst 
Catholics  and  others  in  England  to  promote  the 
accession  of  a  native-born  candidate  as  opposed  to 
the  Scotsman,  was  connected  more  or  less  directly 
with  the  series  of  deliberations  in  Spain  and  Flan- 
ders, which  have  been  described  in  the  preceding 
pages. 

The   only  English    candidate   mentioned    in   the 


THE   ENGLISH   CANDIDATES         495 

petition  of  the  English  Catholics  to  the  Spanish 
King  upon  which  the  deliberations  referred  to  were 
based  was  the  Earl  of  Worcester ;  but  in  the  inter- 
minable discussions  in  the  Council,  neither  his  name 
nor  any  other  was  adopted,  in  order,  apparently, 
that  the  choice  of  the  English  themselves  should 
seem  to  be  quite  spontaneous.  It  is,  however,  im- 
probable that  matters  had  gone  so  far  as  for  Spain 
to  promise  powerful  armed  and  pecuniary  aid  with- 
out some  general  understanding  as  to  the  person 
likely  to  be  selected.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  in  the 
course  of  the  discussions  in  the  Council  the  person 
to  be  chosen  is  always  referred  to  in  the  masculine 
gender,  and  when  the  question  was  considered  what 
reply  should  be  given  to  the  English  if  they  sug- 
gested, "  as  they  had  done  before,"  a  marriage  be- 
tween the  English  sovereign  of  their  choice  and  a 
member  of  the  King  of  Spain's  family,  it  was  agreed 
that  "inasmuch  as  France  would  be  just  as  jealous 
that  the  Queen  (Consort)  of  England  should  be  of 
your  Majesty's  kin  as  if  the  King  were,  and  as  such 
a  marriage  would  additionally  pledge  your  Majesty's 
prestige  in  the  success  of  the  undertaking,  and  it 
might  be  advantageous  to  the  Catholics  to  have  the 
disposal  of  both  positions,  and  thus  enable  them 
to  reconcile  difficulties  and  silence  discontents,  the 
Council  is  of  opinion  that  your  Majesty  should  reply 
that  .  .  .  you  think  best  to  leave  them  absolute 
freedom  of  action  in  this  particular." 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  that  the  Spanish  Council, 
at  all  events,  anticipated  the  choice  of  a  man  and 
a  bachelor.  Whom  could  they  have  had  in  their 
minds  ?     The  young  Earl  of  Worcester  had  already 


496  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

been  married  three  years,  and  from  his  character 
and  subsequent  action  it  would  appear  extremely 
improbable  that  he  was  the  person  now  thought  of. 
The  Earl  of  Derby  was  not  likely  to  be  approached 
after  his  reception  of  previous  advances — though  his 
sister  had  been  mentioned  more  than  once — nor  was 
the  Earl  of  Cumberland,  who  was  an  avowed  Puritan 
and  also  extremely  unpopular  with  the  Spaniards  for 
his  depredations  upon  their  shipping.  The  Earl  of 
Huntington,  the  representative  of  the  Poles,  was 
also  a  Puritan,  and  certainly  had  no  connection  with 
the  Catholics.  There  only  remained,  therefore,  Ara- 
bella Stuart  and  the  descendants  of  Catherine  Grey, 
and  it  is  quite  possible  that  this  may  lead  us  to  the 
threshold  of  the  mystery  which  has  always  sur- 
rounded the  doings  of  these  personages  at  the 
period,  behaviour  so  extraordinary  in  the  case  of 
Arabella  as  to  lead  those  who  knew  her  to  conclude 
that  she  was  mad. 

Some  of  the  gossip  of  the  English  Jesuit  party, 
with  regard  to  the  selection  of  a  candidate  to  take 
the  place  of  the  Infanta,  and  pointing  to  Arabella 
Stuart,  must  have  reached  the  ears  of  James  as  early 
as  1601  ;  for  writing  to  his  secret  agent.  Lord  Henry 
Howard,  in  that  year,  he  deplores  "  this  accident 
fallen  to  Arbell,"  and  expresses  a  hope  that  for  "  her 
own  weal  such  order  were  taken  as  she  might  be 
preserved  from  evil  company,  and  that  evil-inclined 
persons  might  not  have  access  unto  her,  to  supplant, 
abusing  of  the  frailty  of  her  youth  and  sex  ;  for  if  it 
be  true,  as  I  am  credibly  informed,  that  she  is  lately 
moved  by  the  persuasions  of  the  Jesuits  to  change 
her  religion  and  declare  herself  a  CathoHc  .  .  .  she 


ARABELLA   STUART  497 

hath  been  very  evil  attended  on."  That  she  had 
been  sounded  by  the  party  with  this  end  is  certain, 
for  we  have  already  seen  that  in  the  confidential 
accounts  given  by  the  English  Jesuits  to  the  Spanish 
King  she  is  distinctly  called  a  Catholic  ;  but  from 
the  absence  of  any  specitic  mention  of  her  in  the 
subsequent  Spanish  discussions,  and  from  the  assump- 
tion throughout  that  the  candidate  was  to  be  a  man, 
it  is  clear  that  she  had  not  openly  avowed  herself 
a  Catholic,  and  was  not  at  this  time  the  principal 
person  in  the  minds  of  the  anti-Scottish  Catholics  as 
their  candidate  for  the  throne.  The  correspondence 
of  the  Jesuit  Father  Rivers  in  England  with  Father 
Persons  in  Rome^  in  the  following  year  confirms 
this,  as  he  mentions  her  (March  1602)  in  connection 
with  a  supposed  plan  of  a  party  in  England  to  place 
her  upon  the  throne  by  French  aid.  Although  there 
was  no  truth  in  this  rumour,  its  transmission  from 
one  influential  Jesuit  to  another  shows  that  Arabella, 
at  this  period  at  least,  was  not  the  principal  candidate 
of  their  party.  A  few  months  later  (July  1602) 
Father  Rivers  informed  Persons  that  he  hears  of  an 
intention  of  marrying  Arabella  to  the  Earl  of  Hert- 
ford's second  son,  "  and  to  carry  the  succession  that 
way  ;  but  these  supra  nos  nihil  ad  nos."  This  seems 
to  form  the  first  clue  to  what  I  conceive  was  the  plan 
of  the  anti-Scottish  Catholics  in  union  with  Spain. 

Matters  had  not  been  going  smoothly  for  some 
time  at  Hardwick  Hall.  Arabella  was  fretting  and 
chafing  at  what  she  considered  the  undeserved  semi- 
imprisonment  in  which  she  was  kept  by  her  grand- 
mother.    She  was  disappointed  at  the  way  in  which 

'  Foley  Papers. 

2   I 


498  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

she    had    been    treated    by    the    Queen,    sometimes 
flattered  with  the  idea  that  she  was  regarded  as  her 
successor,  and  sometimes  exposed  to  humiliation  if 
any  of  the  courtiers  dared  to  look  towards  her.     She 
had  incurred  the  Queen's  displeasure,  amongst  other 
things,  by   some  sort  of  flirtation  with   Essex,  and 
now   that  she  was    buried    at   Hard  wick,    she,   and 
those  around  her,  were  treated  with  ever-increasing 
suspicion.     She  was,  on  the  other  hand,  as  amorous, 
and  probably  as  ambitious,  as  Elizabeth  herself  had 
been  at  a  similar  age,  and  evidently  endeavoured  to 
imitate  the  behaviour  of  Elizabeth  before  her  acces- 
sion.    Both   her  Cavendish   and  her  Talbot  uncles 
sympathised  with  her  ;  and  her  aunt,  the  Countess  of 
Shrewsbury, her  greatest  friend  and  a  Catholic,  was  un- 
questionably in  communication  with  the  Jesuit  party. 
Negotiations  of  some  sort  were  in  progress  between 
Arabella   and  these  relatives  of  hers  in   1602,   and 
during  the  summer  of  that  year  she  endeavoured  to 
plan  a  flight  from  Hardwick  by  the  aid  of  a  chaplain 
and  tutor  named    Starkey,    whose    mysterious  pro- 
ceedings with  her  and  his  subsequent  suicide  gave 
rise  to  an  infinity  of  gossip  and  questionable  scandal. 
At  some  period  early  in  that  summer  a  suggestion 
had  been    made,  circuitously   and    secretly,  by  the 
Earl  of  Hertford,  or  his  son  Lord  Beauchamp,  for  a 
marriage  between  Arabella  and  one  of  the  two  sons 
of  the  latter.     On  the  face  of  it  the  suggestion  was 
absurd,  as  the  two  boys  in  question  were  then  only 
sixteen  and  fourteen  years    old  respectively,  whilst 
Arabella  was  twenty-seven.      When   the   idea  was 
broached  to  the  old  Countess  of  Shrewsbury  she  was 
in  great  alarm,  and  forbade  all  further  mention  of 


ARABELLA   AND   THE   SEYMOURS     499 

such  a  project ;  but  late  in  J)ecember  of  the  same 
year,  1602,  Arabella,  either  because  she  now  better 
understood  the  significance  of  such  a  match,  or 
simply,  as  she  pretended  afterwards,  to  enable  her  to 
get  out  of  the  clutches  of  her  grandmother,  renewed 
the  negotiation  on  hor  own  account  with  the  con- 
nivance of  her  uncles.  With  much  difficulty,  for 
every  one  was  in  mortal  fear  of  the  old  Countess,  she 
managed  to  induce  a  servant,  one  Dodderidge,  to 
carry  to  the  Earl  of  Hertford  a  letter  of  credence 
from  her,  and  a  verbal  message  to  the  effect  that  if 
he  still  wished  for  the  marriage  formerly  proposed 
between  his  eldest  grandson  and  herself  he  should 
renew  tbe  negotiation  in  another  way  and  not 
through  the  old  Countess.  She  suggested  also  that 
the  boy  suitor  should  be  sent  in  disguise  to  Hard- 
wick,  in  order  that  she  might  see  him  ;  and  her 
Cavendish  uncles  were  mentioned  as  approving  of 
the  step  she  was  taking. 

The  messenger  arrived  at  Tottenham  Park  on  the 
30th  December  1602,  and  with  some  trouble  obtained 
access  to  the  Earl,  who  was  at  dinner.  Kneeling,  he 
delivered  his  message  out  of  earshot  of  the  other 
persons  in  the  room  ;  but  before  the  words  were  well 
out  of  his  mouth,  Hertford,  in  great  perturbation, 
bade  him  be  silent,  and,  placing  the  hapless  mes- 
senger under  lock  and  key,  he  sent  post-haste  to 
reveal  the  whole  matter  to  the  Council,  and  to  beg 
for  orders  as  to  what  course  he  should  take.  At 
first  sight,  this  action  of  Hertford's  was  inexpli- 
cable if  he  had,  as  was  apparently  the  case,  previously 
made  the  same  proposal  secretly  himself;  and  we 
are  driven  to  seek  an  explanation  of  his  inconsistency 


500  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

in  any  change  of  the  circumstances  that  had  taken 
place  in  the  interim.  His  own  venture  in  that  field 
had  probably  rendered  Hertford  somewhat  shy  of 
dynastic  marriages;  he  could  have  nothing  personally 
to  gain  by  plunging  himself  and  his  family  into  re- 
volutionary action  unless  with  a  certainty  of  success, 
and  it  is  most  likely  that  the  initiative  had  in  the 
first  place  come  rather  from  his  son,  Lord  Beauchamp, 
than  from  Hertford  himself.  He  must  have  seen, 
moreover,  how  rapidly  James's  chances  had  advanced 
during  the  course  of  the  year,  and  what  looked 
possible  when  the  proposal  was  first  made  might 
look  impossible  later.  But  all  this,  though  it  may 
explain  Hertford's  inconsistency,  does  not  explain 
the  subsequent  proceedings  of  Arabella  and  Lord 
Beauchamp. 

In  any  case,  Hertford's  message  caused  an  immense 
sensation  at  court,  and  the  air  was  full  of  strange 
rumours  and  conjectures.  The  Queen  was  in  a 
towering  rage.^  Hertford  himself  was  summoned  to 
explain  personally ;  the  messenger  was  brought  to 
London  and  examined  again  and  again,  though  he 
had  nothing  fresh  to  tell ;  and  Sir  Henry  Brounker 
was  sent  down  to  Plardwick  to  examine  Arabella 
herself.  He  found  her  flighty,  fractious,  and  hys- 
terical, contradicting  herself  repeatedly,  writing  in- 
terminable letters  so  obscure  that  no  one  then  or 
since  could  fathom  their  meaning.  Full  of  hints  at 
one  time  of  some  mysterious  love  affair,  talking  of 
" my  little  little  love,'  and  bewailing  that  she,  a 
grown  woman,  could  not  have  a  sweetheart  like  any- 

^  The  Venetian  ambassador    in    London    says    that    the    chagrin 
shortened  her  life. 


ARABELLA'S   BEHAVIOUR  501 

body  else ;  and  then  suddenly  declaring  that  the 
man  to  whom  she  is  attached  is — of  all  persons — her 
cousin,  the  King  of  Scots.  At  the  beginning  of 
February  her  confidant,  Starkey,  hanged  himself  in 
Ijoudon,  and  this  set  afloat  another  swarm  of 
rumours.  At  one  time  (February  21)  Arabella  de- 
termined to  get  out  of  her  grandmother's  clutches 
somehow,  and  resolutely  refused  to  eat  or  drink 
under  her  roof  The  old  lady  herself  was  extremely 
unwise,  exaggerating  and  treating  with  undue 
seriousness  Arabella's  "tantrums,"  and  Sir  Henry 
Brounker  was  kept  continually  running  backwards 
and  forwards  for  two  months,  trying  ineffectually  to 
discover  what  it  all  meant.  On  the  2nd  March 
Arabella  wrote  a  letter  to  Brounker,  asserting  that 
she  was  *'  free  from  all  promise,  contract,  or  inten- 
tion to  marry,"  and  declared  that  she  would  never 
do  so,  as  she  preferred  death  to  matrimony.  She 
complained  that  her  "conceits"  were  taken  seriously, 
and,  at  another  time,  confessed  to  Brounker  that 
what  she  said  was  only  for  the  purpose  of  mystifying 
him.  To  the  Queen  she  wrote  long,  incoherent 
letters,  praying  that  she  might  tell  her  the  great 
secret  personally,  and  said  that  two  lines  from  the 
Queen's  own  hand  would  gain  more  from  her  than 
all  the  councillors  could. ^ 

1  The  correspondence  and  examinations  are  at  Hatfield,  and  have,  to 
a  great  extent,  been  printed  in  Miss  E.  T.  Bradley's  "Life  of  Arabella 
Stuart."  One  impoi-tant  letter  is  in  Edward's  "Life  and  Letters  of 
Kalfgh,"  in  which  Arabella  hints  that  those  who  are  abetting  her  are 
abroad.  "  I  can  assure  you  that  all  that  are  of  my  counsell  are  out  of 
all  possibility  of  danger  and  out  of  your  reach.  Neither  doth  her 
Majesty's  commandment  prevail  so  far,  though  her  fame  and  entreaty 
be  everywhere  glorious  and  powerful.  And  for  myself,  I  will  rather 
spit  my  tongue  in  my  examiner  or  torturer's  face  than  it  sliall  be  eaid 
.  ,    .   that  an  extorted  truth  came  out  of  my  lips." 


502  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

As  the  Queen's  death  became  daily  more  immi- 
nent the  plot  thickened.  Both  Beaumont,  the  French 
ambassador,  and  Father  Rivers  mentioned  early  in 
March  that  the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Shrewsbury 
were  '*  very  inward  "  with  Secretary  Cecil,  with  whom 
they  had  constant  secret  meetings ;  and  rumours  of 
the  wildest  character  were  rife  about  the  proceedings 
of  Arabella,  Father  Rivers  repeating  a  strange  rumour 
that  Cecil  was  going  to  marry  her  himself  and  raise 
her  to  the  throne.  We  can  understand  now  better 
than  his  contemporaries  why  Cecil  was  so  friendly 
and  confidential  with  the  Catholic  Shrewsburys,  in 
whose  plans  for  their  niece  he  was  probably  pre- 
tending to  be  a  consenting  party  until  the  moment 
came  for  action.  On  March  lo  Henry  Cavendish 
and  a  Catholic  gentleman  named  Stapleton — a  rela- 
tive, be  it  noted,  of  the  most  influential  English 
Catholic  ecclesiastic  in  Flanders — mustered  a  squad- 
ron of  forty  horsemen  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hard- 
wick  Hall.  The  leaders,  one  of  whom  had  a  lady's 
pillion  upon  his  horse,  awaited,  according  to  agree- 
ment with  x\rabella,  at  the  church  of  Hucknall, 
about  half  a  mile  from  Hard  wick.  But  the  redoubt- 
able old  Bess,  secretly  forewarned,  no  doubt,  by  Cecil, 
caused  her  granddaughter  to  be  prevented  from  leav- 
ing the  domain.  Finding  that  she  came  not,  Henry 
Cavendish  and  his  friends  rode  up  to  his  mother's 
gates  and  demanded  to  see  his  niece.  The  old 
Countess  admitted  her  "  bad  son,"  as  she  called  him, 
but  warned  the  Papist,  Stapleton,  away.  Henry 
Cavendish  endeavoured  to  convey  his  niece  outside 
to  his  horsemen,  but  the  Countess  had  assembled  her 
household  and  tenants,  and  a  stormy  scene  ensued, 


ARABELLA'S   FLIGHT    PRKVENTJ^D     503 

in  which  Arabella  indignantly  demanded  if  she  was  a 
prisoner,  and  conversed  through  the  closed  gates  with 
Stapleton,  with  whom  she  arranged  a  meeting  for 
the  following  day.  But  by  this  time  the  alarm  had 
spread,  the  Countess  declaimed  and  protested  vrhi 
et  orbi,  and  Stapleton  sought  safety  in  flight,  whilst 
Cavendish  was  summoned  by  the  Council  to  l^ondon, 
and  Arabella  was  carried  off  to  Wrest  House,  where, 
under  the  guardianship  of  the  Earl  of  Kent,  all  hope 
of  her  escape  was  gone.  Simultaneously  with  this 
attempt  to  abduct  Arabella,  liOrd  Beauchamp,  who  had 
recently  become  a  widower,  and  was,  it  is  said,  be- 
trothed to  her,  also  disappeared,'^  and  it  is  impossible 
not  to  see  a  connection  between  the  two  facts. 

From  a  consideration  of  all  these  circumstances  it 
would  appear  probable  that,  although  Hertford  him- 
self w^as  a  Protestant,  as  befitted  a  son  of  the  Pro- 
tector Somerset,  Lord  Beauchamp,  the  direct  heir  to 
the  crown  under  the  will  of  Henry  VHL,  was  ready 
to  accept  Spanish  and  Catholic  aid  to  raise  him  to  the 
throne,  and  that,  at  a  period  subsequent  to  the 
autumn  of  1602,  the  Jesuit  party  conceived  the  plan 
of  conciliating  Arabella's  friends  and  consolidating 
the  Catholic  forces  by  a  union  between  the  two 
claimants.  The  plan,  if  it  existed,  was  a  clever  one, 
for  the  Grey-Seymour  succession  w^ould  not  fail  to 
please  the  Protestant  party,  whilst  the  anti-Scottish 
Catholics,  of  course,  would  have  rejoiced  at  the  ex- 
clusion of  James  and  the  accession  of  monarchs 
under  the   patronage   of  Spain.     But   it  is   evident 

'  Venetian  Calendar,  Scaramelli  tu  the  Doge,  March  20,  1603.  It 
will  be  recollected  that  years*  before  this  we  liave  seen  Beauchamp  on  the 
poinl  of  escaping  to  Spain. 


504  TREASON   AND    PLOT 

that  Cecil  had  his  hand  on  the  intrigue.  His  "  in- 
wardness" with  the  Shrewsburys  gave  him  all  the 
information  he  needed  about  the  plans  of  Arabella's 
friends,  and  doubtless  Hertford's  panic  when  he 
received  Arabella's  message  was  owing  to  a  warn- 
ing that  Cecil  had  been  made  acquainted  by  the 
old  Countess,  and  disapproved  of,  the  former  matri- 
monial proposal  to  Arabella ;  as  well  as  to  the  con- 
viction that  James's  accession  had  now  become 
inevitable.  These  feelings  may  not  have  been 
shared  by  his  son,  who  was  more  adventurous 
and  more  directly  interested  than  Hertford  him- 
self, and  the  balance  of  probability  seems  to  incline 
to  the  conclusion  that  Beauchamp  and  Arabella 
were  the  persons  indicated  as  the  candidates  of 
the  Spanish  Catholic  party  to  succeed  to  Elizabeth 
by  the  aid  of  the  ships,  troops,  and  money  of 
King  Philip. 

But  the  plot  failed  even  before  it  reached  maturity, 
first,  from  the  vigilance  and  secrecy  of  Cecil,  which 
enabled  him  to  tranquillise  James  and  make  every 
preparation  for  his  peaceful  accession,  whilst  remain- 
ing himself,  to  all  appearance,  so  entirely  detached 
as  to  invite  the  confidence  of  his  own  partisans;  and, 
secondly,  from  the  procrastination  and  unreadiness 
of  the  Spanish  King  and  his  Ministers  ;  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  were  prosily  deliberating  and  laying  down 
a  course  of  action  that  would  take  months  to  de- 
velop, whilst  Elizabeth  had  but  a  few  days  to  live. 
England  was  thus  kept  peacefully  Protestant  at  the 
critical  moment  by  the  craft  of  Cecil  and  the  sloth  of 
Spain. 

As  the  hour  approached  for  which  James  had  so 


ACCESSION    OF   JAMES  505 

long  and  impatiently  yearned;  the  hour  when  he  might 
mount  the  "tovvardly  rydding  horse  of  St.  George,"  in- 
stead, as  he  said,  of  "  daily  burstin  in  daunting  a 
wylde,  unreulie  coalte,"  men  of  all  parties  in  England 
understood  that  nothing  was  likely  to  stand  in  the 
way  of  his  accession.  On  March  17  Northumber- 
land wrote  to  him  saying  that  tho  Queen  had  been 
"evil  now  almoaste  a  month."  The  fact  had  been 
kept  secret  for  twelve  days  and  the  indisposition  was 
ascribed  to  Elizabeth's  anger  at  the  conditions  granted 
to  Tyrone,  to  Arabella's  strange  vagaries,  and  to  the 
Countess  of  Nottingham's  death  ;  but  at  length  the 
truth  had  to  be  told.  The  Queen  ate  and  slept  but 
very  little  and  the  "  phisitions  conclud  that  if  this 
contineu  she  must  needes  fall  into  a  distemper,  not  a 
frensie,  but  rather  a  dulnesse  and  alethargie."  The 
Venetian  envoy  in  London,  writing  on  the  same  day 
(March  17),  says  that  on  the  anniversary  of  Essex's 
death  a  few  days  before,  "the  Queen  had  burst  into 
tears  and  dolorous  lamentations,  as  though  for  some 
deadly  sin  she  had  committed,  and  then  fell  ill  of  a 
sickness,  which  the  doctors  instantly  judged  to  be 
mortal." 

As  the  great  Queen  lay  dying  at  Iliclimond  all 
things  were  made  ready.  Eight  fine  galleons,  fully 
armed,  and  with  500  troops  on  board  of  each  one, 
lay  in  the  Thames  ;  the  City  of  Ijondon  was  secured  ; 
Cecil's  brother,  Burghley,  commanded  in  the  north  ; 
the  doubtful  recusants  throughout  the  country  were 
cast    into    prison,^    and    the    draft    proclamation    to 

'  Bruce  writes  (for  King  James)  to  Lord  Henry  Howard  (for  Cecil): 
"The  means  are  most  politique  and  wise  by  which  yow  have  dispersed 
the  clowd  f)f  ane  apparent  Popish  uprore,  and  it  is  a  very  safe  and  singu- 
larly good  rewle  rather  to  prevent  than  to  be  prevented;  but  we  did  eo 


5o6  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

be  issued  by  the  new  King  was  sent  for  his  approval 
by  Cecil/  **  This  accident,"  wrote  Northumberland 
to  the  King  in  reference  to  the  Queen's  illness, 
"made  all  the  nation  looke  about  them.  Men  talke 
freely  of  your  Majestie's  rights,  and  all  in  general 
gives  you  a  great  allowance.  The  affections  of  many 
are  discovered  to  be  wholly  devoted  to  your  service. 
Every  one  almost  embraces  you."  The  only  thing 
necessary  now  to  stamp  the  seal  of  right  upon  the 
claim  of  James  was  for  the  Queen  at  her  last  hour  to 
acknowledge  him  as  her  successor,  and  this  requisite 
was  thoughtfully  provided  by  Cecil  to  make  his  work 
complete.  Elizabeth  lay  speechless  with  her  hand 
in  that  of  the  Primate  when  Cecil  and  the  Council 
clustered  around  her  couch.  On  the  mention  of  the 
King  of  Scots'  name  the  Secretary  asserted  that  the 
dying  sovereign  gave  a  mute  sign  of  assent.  It  was 
enough,  and  almost  before  the  Queen's  last  sigh  was 
breathed,  Robert  Cary  was  galloping  along  the  north 
road  as  hard  as  swift  horses  could  speed  bearing  the 
pregnant  news  to  the  new  King. 

We  have  seen  that  for  years  past,  when  it  suited 
him,  James  had  professed  his  leaning  towards  Catho- 
licism, and  even  since  the  friendship  with  Cecil  had 
rendered  unnecessary  his  advances  to  the  Pope  and 
Spain,  he  had  certainly  led  Catholics  of  all  sorts  to 

muche  trust  in  your  Industrie  that  if  thay  had  gon  on  to  do  their  worst 
yow  could  have  pulled  such  feathers  from  their  wings  as  might  have 
made  them  come  shorte  of  the  great  prey  they  hunted  for"  (Letters  of 
Cecil  and  James,  Camden  Society). 

1  "  Music,"  wrote  Bruce,  "  which  soundeth  so  sweetly  in  his  ears 
that  he  cannot  alter  no  note  in  so  agreeable  an  harmony  "  (Ibid.).  "  It 
sail  not  be  amiss,''  wrote  the  same  agent.  "  if  yow  temper  the  King's  too 
great  haste  in  removing  hence  in  case  God  sail  call  the  Queen  .  .  .  for 
now  he  burnes  to  be  gone."' 


JAMES    AND   THE    CATHOLICS       507 

expect  at  least  toleration  at  his  hands.  The  Catho- 
lics, checkmated  as  they  were,  and  unprepared 
either  with  an  organisation  or  the  assurance  of 
foreign  aid,  could  only  hope  for  the  best,  and 
hasten  as  they  might  to  secure  the  smiles  of  the 
monarch,  from  whom  a  large  number  of  them  had 
reason  to  expect  some  sympathy.^  A  bold  voice 
here  and  there,  like  that  of  Kalegh,  dared  to  say  a 
word  of  remonstrance  at  the  adulation  with  which 
Englishmen  were  preparing  to  receive  the  King  of  a 
nation  which  they  had  always  been  taught  to  look 
upon  with  disdain — "  to  spoil  a  gude  King,"  as  one 
of  James's  Scottish  courtiers  said  ;  but  as  a  rule, 
each  man  was  thinking  of  his  own  future,  and  the 
race  to  greet  the  King  was  not  for  the  purpose  of 
imposing  conditions  upon  him,  but  to  encourage 
him  in  his  extremest  ideas  of  the  sacredness  of  the 
royal  prerogative.  Even  the  Jesuit  party,  either  in 
hopelessness  of  help  from  Spain  or  in  the  real  belief 
that  James  would  keep  his  word,  welcomed  the  new 
King ;  and  Father  Garnet,  the  Provincial,  burnt  two 
briefs  of  the  Pope  exhorting  English  Catholics  to 
allow  no  one  to  succeed  to  the  throne  who  did  not 
promise  at  least  toleration."     They  were  soon  unde- 

'  In  a  notable  secret  letter  to  Cecil,  in  reply  to  the  latter's  remark 
that  he  did  not  like  to  see  loyal  Catholics  sacrificed  by  dozens,  James 
said,  "  I  will  never  allow  in  my  conscience  that  the  blood  of  any  man 
shall  be  shedde  for  diversitie  of  opinions  in  religion  ;  and  I  would  be 
sorry  that  Catholiques  should  so  multiplie  as  they  might  be  able  to 
practise  their  old  principles  upon  us.  1  will  never  agree  that  any 
should  dye  for  erroure  of  faith  against  the  first  table  ;  but  I  think 
they  should  not  be  permitted  to  worke  rebellion  against  the  second 
table  .  .  .  No  !  I  am  so  far  from  an  intention  of  persecution,  as  I 
protest  to  God  I  reverence  their  Church  as  our  Motlier  Churcli,  tliough 
clogged  with  many  corruptions." 

-  Whilst   James    was  on   his  journey  south    Garnet    wrote  :   "  'i"he 


5o8  TREASON   AND   PLOT 

ceived.  There  was  to  be  no  concession  either  to 
Catholics  or  Puritans  from  a  King  who  had  pro- 
fessed at  different  times  to  belong  to  both  creeds  ; 
and  the  Catholics  now,  doubtless  aware  too  late  of 
the  tardy  decision  of  the  Spanish  King,  were  doubly 
chagrined  to  find  how  they  had  been  betrayed. 

That  the  Bye  and  Main  Plots,  and  even  the 
Gunpowder  Conspiracy,  were  the  rank,  sporadic 
aftergrowth  of  the  greater  plan  which  Spanish  pro- 
crastination prevented  from  ripening  in  time,  may 
be  accepted  as  certain.  It  is  more  than  doubtful 
if  the  sum  of  money  offered  by  Count  Arenberg,  the 
Archduke's  ambassador,  to  Cobham  and  Ralegh 
after  James's  accession  was  intended  to  promote 
revolution  or  regicide  ;  it  was  far  more  likely  to  have 
been  employed  to  obtain  better  terms  for  Spain  and 
the  Catholics  in  the  coming  treaty  of  peace.  The 
Spaniards  and  Jesuits  must  have  seen  now  that 
they  had  failed  in  conspiracy,  as  they  had  failed  in 
invasion  ;  the  archpriest  Blackwell,  Jesuit  nominee 
though  he  was,  was  as  anxious  to  denounce  the  dis- 
loyal plots  of  secular  priests  like  Watson,^  as  was 
the  notorious  Jesuit-hater  Father  Cecil  himself,  and 
a  cause  thus  divided  and  subdivided  against  itself 
could  not  hope  to  prevail.  The  100,000  ducats  lent 
by  Spinola,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  decision  of 
Spain  to  have  aided  an  English  Catholic  candidate, 

Catholics  have  great  cause  to  hope  for  great  respect ;  in  that  the 
nobility,  almost  all,  labour  for  it,  and  have  good  promise  thereof  from 
his  Majesty." 

^  The  action  of  the  Jesuit  party  in  divulging  the  Bye  Plot  to  Cecil, 
partly,  no  doubt,  owing  to  the  bitter  feud  between  the  two  sections  of 
Catholics,  may  also  have  been  inspired  by  the  knowledge  that  the  aim 
of  the  conspirators  was  toleration. 


PROTESTANTISM   TRIUMPHANT     509 

still  drove  a  few  ambitious  hot-heads  to  dream  that 
they  could  turn  back  the  hands  of  the  clock  and 
undo  what  had  been  done.  But  it  was  too  late. 
Toleration  perhaps  might  still  have  been  wrung 
from  James  by  formidable  united  pressure  from 
without  and  within  ;  but  the  battle  of  Catholic 
supremacy  in  England  was  finally  lost  when  Robert 
Cecil  secretly  rallied  to  James,  and  when  the  sloth- 
ful Spanish  King  and  Lerma  wasted  two  years  in 
making  up  their  minds  finally  as  to  their  policy 
towards  the  section  of  English  Catholics  that  had 
for  so  long  looked  to  kSpain  for  help  and  guidance. 

Even  if  the  Gunpowder  Plot  had  destroyed  the 
King  and  his  house,  a  Catholic  sovereign  of  Eng- 
land under  Spanish  tutelage  would  no  longer  have 
been  possible.  James  might  cringe  and  truckle 
before  Gondomar  and  his  master  until  good  Eng- 
lishmen blushed  for  shame  at  their  sovereign's  base- 
ness ;  his  son  might  dance  attendance  on  a  Philip, 
and  endure  the  insolence  of  Olivares  in  the  hope  of 
being  honoured  with  a  Spanish  bride,  but  no  Eng- 
lish prince  dared  now  adopt  Catholicism  as  the  ex- 
clusive religion  of  his  country,  or  attempt  once  more 
to  submit  England  to  the  yoke  of  the  Papacy  :  for 
out  of  the  forty  years  of  struggle  a  potent  empire 
had  emerged,  determined  to  choose  its  own  form  of 
faith,  and  able  successfully  to  resist  all  dictation  from 
the  foreigner,  even  though  its  degenerate  sovereign 
had  forgotten  the  dignified  traditions  of  Elizabeth. 


INDEX 


Adelantado,    the  (Don    Martin 

de  Padilla),  217,  227-229,  247, 

249-263,    2S8,    290,    366,    369, 

378,  407,  466,  476 
Agiiila,    Don  Juan   del,   Spanish 

commander    at    Kinsale,    453- 

470 
Albert,  Archduke,  259,  278,  281, 

302,  330-331,  367,  402,  403,  423, 

425,  479-480,  483 
Allen,  Cardinal,  11,  82,  87,  90,  95, 

215 
Almond,  Priest,  91 
Andrada,  Manuel,    1 21-122,  124- 

125,  126,  128-130,  137,  162-164 
Angus,  Earl  of,  24,  27,  48,  65,  205 
Annias'  confessions,  103-104,  109, 

115 

Antonio,  Don,  Portuguese  pre- 
tender, 109,  I  iS  passim 

Arabella  Stuart,  211,  215,  274- 
281,  302,417,  496-504,  5"5 

Archer,  Father,  107,  471 

Archpi'iest  controversy,  85,  272- 

273,  314-315,327,421 
Arenberg,  Count,  508 
Argyll,  Earl  of,  67-69,  313 
Armada,   Political    effects    of    its 

defeat,  1-17 
Armagh,     Archbishop)     of.       <SVc 

MHJavran 

battle  of,  306-309 

Arundel,  Sir  Thomas,  319 

Bacon,  Anthony,  143,  194 
Francis,  35,  337,  396 


Bagenal,    Sir    Henry,    defeat    at 

Armagh,  306-309 
Bagshaw,  Dr.,  272,  315,  323-325, 

416 
Balgarys,  Walter  Lindsay,  Lord, 

26,  31,  69-74,  78-79,  201-203, 

210-211 
Baltimore,  Spaniards  at,  455,  461, 

462,  468,  470 
Baltinglas,  Viscount,  56,  60,  63 
Barclay,  Hugh,  seni  to  Spain,  69, 

202-203,  21 1 
Barnes,  276,  283 
Beaiichamp,  Lord,  257,  274,  279, 

498,  500,  503,  504 
Bethurie,     Maxmilian     (Due     de 

Sully),  in  Scotland,  381 
Bingham,    Sir   Richard,    54,  230, 

231,  333 
Bisley,  priest,  97 
Black,  Scottish  minister.  205 
Blackwell,  Archpriest  of  England, 

273,  314,421,422,  508 
Blanks,  the  Spanish,  27 
Blount,  Sir  Christopher,  343,  393 
Bluet,  Father,  273,  416 
Botello,  Diego,  128 
Boulogne.     See  Peace  negotiations 
Both  well.  Earl  of  (Francis  Stuart), 

64-65,   77,   78,  3S7  ;    his  plans 

for  invading  Scotland,  417-420, 

490 
Borough,  Lord,  Lord-Deputy,  265, 

266,  267 
Boyd,     Charles,    his    mission    to 

Spain,  25-26 

5" 


512 


INDEX 


Briminghani,   Tyrone's  secretary, 

sent  to  Spain,  302 
Brochero,    Admiral    Don    T)iego, 

453-455 
Brounker,  Sir  Henry,  499-501 
Bruce,  Edward,  Abbot  of  Kinloss, 

364,  388,  440,  505,  506 

Robert,  of  Bemie,  27,  42,  310 

Buckhurst,    Lord,   336,  413,   423, 

431 
Bull  of  excommunication,  84-85 
Burghley,    Lord,   18,   28,  32,    33, 
37,  40,  61,  83-84,  89,1  28-130, 
193,  282-283,  292,  297,  336 
Lord,    Thomas    Cecil,    431, 

434,  505 
Burke,  Redmond,  465 

William,  in  Dunboy,  471 

Button,  Captain,  459 

Bye  and  Main  Plots,  508  j 

Cadiz,  the    attack  on,    194-200,  j 

216,  220 
Cahill's  confessions,  106-109,  no, 

112 
Calais,      capture     of,      by      the 

Spaniards,  192,  244,  284  • 

Caldeira,  136 
Campion,  Father,  11 
Caracena,  Count,  472 
Carew,  Sir  George,  President  of  ' 

Munster,  336,  431,444,452-454,   ! 

454-469,  475  t 

Cary,  Robert,  506  I 

Castlehaven,  Spaniards   in,   461- 

462,  463,  464,  468,  470  j 

Catholics   in  England,  80  et  seq.,  j 

242-243,271-274,276-281,315,   ! 

41 1,  427-428,  479-480,  483,  489  I 
Cavendish,  Henry,  49S,  499,  502 

William,  498,  499 

Cecil,  Father  John,  41-49,  61,  64- 

65,  66,  69-74,  93,  201-203,  210- 

216,  280,  281,  363,  508 


Cecil,  Sir  Robert,  32-33,  35,  142- 
143,  232,  244,  250,  281,  284,  292, 
315,  359-364,  367-369,  375,  381, 
390,  395,  413,  423,  431,  436; 
his  understanding  with  James 
VI.,  439-443,  491  ;  his  betrayal 
of  his  party,  492-494,  504-506, 
509 

Cerda,  Martin  de  la,  Spanish 
captain  in  Ireland,  400-402,  404, 
407,  446,  449,  464,  467 

Chamberlain,  Father,  Tyrone's 
confessor,  447 

Chateau  Martin,  spy,  37-38,  40, 
61,  66 

Chisholm,  Bishop  of  Dunblane,  45 

■ Bishop  of  Vaison,  45,  419, 

420 

Cisneros,  captain  in  Ireland,  183- 
187 

Claimants  to  the  English  succes- 
sion, 32,  166,  204,  211,  215,  221, 
274-281,  41 1-417, 478-480, 483, 
485,  486,  495-504 

Clement  VIII. ,  Pope,  201-203,  214 

Clifford,  Sir  Couyers,  351 

Cobham,  Lord,  292,  347,  365,  413, 
432,  492,  493,  508 

Cobos,  Alonso,  in  Ireland,  182, 
230-238,  266-267,  400 

Coke,  Speaker  (Attorney-General), 

34,  324 
Collen's  confessions,  103-109 
Constable,  English  Catholic  refu- 
gee, 284,  380,  420 
Creighton,  Scottish  Jesuit,  420 
Cresswell,  Father  Joseph,  Jesuit, 
224-225,  318-319,  3S2,  41 1-417, 
478,  482,  484,  488,  494 
Cumberland,   Earl   of,    274,    292, 

294,  295,  374,  496 
Curlews,  Battle  of,  351 

Dacre,  Lord,  44,  285 


INDEX 


513 


Daniel's  disclosures,  106-109 
Dauvers,  Sir  Charles,  395,  431 
Derby,  Earl  of,  approached  by  the 

Catholics,    102,    108,    274,    414, 

417,  496 
Derrick,  Francis,  275-276 
Desmond,   Earl   of   (James  Eiiz- 

thomas),  334,  397,  399,  409,  444, 

448,451,457 

John  of,  448 

Docwra,  Sir  Richard,  445,  452 
Donegal,  rebels  meet  in,  54-184, 

193,  232-238,  399-402,  404,  446 
Donnell,    Spainagh    (Kavanagh), 

352 
Douai,  seminary  at,  11,  82,  83 
Drake,  Sir  Francis,  5-6,  18,  37-39, 

47,  1 69-1 7 1  ;  last  voyage,  172- 
174,  196 

Drummond,  James,  Scottish  en- 
voy to  the  Pope,  419 

Dunblane,  Bishop  of.  See  Chis- 
holm 

Dunboy,  Spaniards  in,  461-462, 
468-470 ;  captured  by  O'Sulli- 
van,  471-473 

Dynastic  parties  in  England,  361, 
411-417,421-422,427-428,431- 
437,  485-487,  491  vassim 

Edmunds,  Sir  Thomas,  423-424 
Egerton,  Lord  Keeper,  336,  338 
Elizabeth,   her  attitude    towards 

the  Catholics,  10,  17,  26,  33,  35, 

81-85 

her  death,  504-506 

her  letters  to  James  VI.,  29, 

48,  66,  68,  205,  203 
Elizabeth's  attitude  tcnvards Spain, 

18,    20-21,    35,    191,    193,   194, 
282,  297 
anger  with  Essex  for  his  con- 
duct in  Ireland,  350-360,  391- 
396,  429-430 


Elliot,  Captain,  257,  279,  318 

Elphinstone,  Secretary,  420 

Englefield,  Sir  Francis,  87,  219, 
222  22 -i 

English  Catholics  against  Spain 
and  the  Jesuits,  14,  45,  86,  113^ 
114,  165,  204,  209,  215,  218, 
243,  271,  284-287,  314-315, 
325-327,  410,  420-421,  483 

Errol,  Earl  of,  24,  27,  48,  65,  75, 
205,  279-281 

Essex,  Earl  of,  32,  89,  108,  109, 
113,  131-132,  142-143,  '61, 
194-200,  244-250,  297,  302, 
317-325  ;  goes  to  Ireland,  332, 
333,  337-357  ;  return  and  dis- 
grace, 357-360,  389,  391,  322z 
397,  400,  416,  420-421,  428; 
his  rebellion,  429-437 

Eustace,  Captain,  54,  104,  115 

Falmouth,  plan  to  betray,   257, 

259,  293,  316 
Faux,  English  recusant,  99 
Feagh,  M'Hugh  O'Byrne,  63,  230, 

231,  241 
Fenton,   Sir    Geoffrey,   239,   241, 

265,  298,  398,  445,  447 
Fentry,  Graham  of,  26,  29 
Feria,  Duchess  of,  45,  87,  225 
Fernihurst,  Ker  of,  sent  to  Madrid, 

490 
Ferreira  da  Gama,  132-152 
Fitzgerald,   Sir   Maurice,   57,   58, 

60,  63,  402 
James  Fitzmaurice,   52,   57, 

60,  63 
Fitzherbert,  Nicholas,  218 
Thomas,  317,  318,  319,  320  ; 

his    report     on     English     and 

Scottish  affairs,  383-388,  410 
Fitzmaurice,  Thomas,  in  Dunboy, 

471 
Fixer,  Father,  41,  91 

2  K 


514 


INDEX 


Fuentes,  Count  de,  138,  149,  152, 
160,  366 

Garnet,  Dr.,  Jesuit,  1 1  i-i  12, 422, 

480,  507 
Geraldines,  the,  51-52,  56-57,  60, 

63,  402 
Gifford,  Dr.,   154,   156,  158,   159, 

160,  166,  204,  209,  215,  218 
Glenlivat,  battle  of,  67-68 
Godolpliin,  Sir  Francis,  171,  293 

Sir  William,  468 

Gomez  d'Avila,  1 33-141 
Gordon,  Father,  69,  280,  310 
Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando,  316,  431, 

432 
Grey  de  Wilton,  Lord,  358,  413 

Harrington,  Sir  John,  348,  391, 

397 
Harvey,   Captain,    commands    at 

Castlehaven,  470 
Haydon,  Joseph,  priest,  218 
Heighington,     English     Catholic 

refugee,  87 
Henry  IV.  of  France,  15-16,  25, 

166,    169,    191,   211,   281,  282, 

292,  297,  488 
Herrys,  Lord,  78 
Hertford,  Earl  of,  497-499,  500, 

504 
Hesketh,    refugee,     14 ;    sent    to 

England,  102,  108,  218,  274 
Holt,   Father,   46,  87,    loi,    104, 

105,    106,    107,    154,   155,    157, 

159,    161,    165,   207,   215,   225, 

287 
Howard,  Lord  Admiral,  195-198, 

246,   250,    292,    375  ;    Earl    of 

Nottingham,  376,  413,  423,  431 
Lord  Henry,  429,  441,  493, 

496,  505 
Lord  Thomas,  197,  246,  247, 

292,  374 


Hungerford,  Lady,  225 
Hunsdon,  Lord,  423 
Huntingdon,  Earl  of,  496 
Huntly,   Earl   of,   23-24,  27,  29, 

31,  41,  64,  65,  75,  76,  78-79, 
204,  210,  212 

Hume,  Lord,  Scottish  Catholic, 
65,  380 

Ibarra,  Esteban  de,  105,  112,  115, 

134.    149,    152,    158,    160,   208, 

216,  253,  450 
Idiaquez,  Secretary,  44-45,  58,  60, 

218,  318,  405 
Infanta,  the,  166,  225,  259,  277, 

278,   367,    382,    411,   478-479, 

483,  485,  496 
Invasion,  fears  of,  in  England,  35, 

37-39,   62,    169-174,   194,   204, 

242,    244-250,    291-293,    328, 

369-378 
Ireland,  reports  on  the  condition 

of,  63,    186,     401,     404,     409, 

449 
Irish  rebellions,  50-64,   174-186, 
193,    229-241,    263-270,    298- 
309,    332-335,    344-356,    397- 
410,  443-477 

James  VI.,  his  claims  to  the  Eng- 
lish succession,  40-47,  49,  66- 
79,  201,  204-216,  273,  281,  285, 
312,  363,  364-365,  366,  389, 
419-420,  431,  437,  439-443,  486, 
491,  504-509 

his  Catholic  intrigues,   23- 

32,  40,  45,  48,  49,  64,  65,  66, 
76-79,  203-216,  302,  310-314, 
364-366,  379-390,  410,  419-420, 
486,  507 

his     correspondence     with 

Elizabeth,  31,  75,  205,  303 

his     correspondence     with 

Cecil,  441  passim 


INDEX 


515 


James,   Thomas,  his    mission   to 

Spain,  478  et  seq.,  489 
Jaques  Francis,  Captain,  46,  loi- 

103,  104,  106 
Jesuits  join  the  English  mission, 

11-13,  26,85 
Jesuit  policy  towards  England,  11, 

13,  41-46,  85-88,90-112,  165, 
213,  217-225,  271-274,  284- 
287,  314,  323-327,  365.  366, 
410-416,  420-422,  427-428,  478, 
482-483,  494,  496 

Kkli.y,  James,  Irish  rebel,  263- 

264 
Ker,  George,  27-28,  43,  31 1-3 12, 

481 
Killaloe,  Bishop  of.     See  O'Neil. 
Killibegs,  230,  231,  239,  265-474 
Killigrew,  257,  259,  293,  316 
Kinsale,    Spanish    occupation   of. 

454-469 

siege  of,  457-469 

Knollys,  Sir  William,  336,  436 

Ladyland,  Laird  of,  j^y  74,  201- 

203 
Lalley,  Thomas,  mission  to  Spain, 

263,  302 
Lea,  Captain,  his  plot  to  rescue 

Essex,  435 
Leveson,   Admiral    Sir    Richard, 

451,  460,462 
Lewis,  Owen,  Bishop  of  Cassano, 

14,  45.  95,  116,  167,  204,  220, 
225 

Lingen,  Catholic,  arrested,  iio- 
III 

Lopez,  Dr.,  conspiracy,  11 5-1 53; 
his  antecedents,  117;  pro- 
posal to  poison  Don  Antonio, 
119;  communication  with  the 
Spaniards,  120  ;  agent  for  Wal- 
eingham,  123;  arrest,  142;  par- 


tial confession,   149;   trial  and 
execution,  149-157,  162 
Lopez  de   Soto,  250  passim.,  288, 
289,  470 

M'Cartt  More,  397,  399,  444,  451, 

457 
MacDermot,  241 
M'Donnell  (James  Oge  M'Sorley- 

boy),  236 
M'Gavran,  Archbishop  of  Armagh, 

54 
Macguire  of  Fermanagh,  53,   59, 

174,  180,  182 
Maclean,  Sir  John,  313 
INI'Mahon  of  Monaghan,  53,  404 
M'Suyne,  182,  233,  239 
M'William  Bourke,  183,  230,  233, 

235,  241,  264,  446 
Maisse,  De,  French   envoy,  282- 

283 
Mar,  Earl  of,  envoy  to  England, 

431-432,  439 

Markham,  Sir  Griffin,  156 

Marques  Rodrigo,  121,  124-125- 
126,  162 

Medinilla,  Captain,  in  Ireland, 
183-187 

Mendoza,  Bernardino  de,  23 

Middleton,  Captain  R.  W.,  154 

Montjoy,  Lord,  Lord-Deputy,  332, 
337,  389,  394-395>  398,  430,  435, 
443-445>  448-452,454  ;  at  Kin- 
sale,  458-469 

Moody,  88 

Morgan,  Thomas,  14,  45 

Morton,  Dr.,  87 

Mostyn,  Hugh,  446,  465 

Moura,  Cristobal  de,  Secretary,  61 
125,  129,  139,  148,  162,  217,  253 

Mumford,  Priest,  177 

Munday,    conspirator,    318,    324- 

325 
Mush,  Father,  85,  273,  327 


5i6 


INDEX 


NoRRKYS,  Sir  Edward,  245 

Sir  John,  175,  177,  182,  232, 

234,  239,  240,  265,  298 
Northumberland,   Earl    of,    375, 

493.  505 

O'Connor,  Sir  Charles,  60 

Don,  180,  231 

Roe,  180 

Sligo,  351,446 

O'Conroy,  Father  Florence,  475- 
476 

O'Cullan,  priest,  confession  of, 
176 

O'Davitt,  Hugh  Boy,  238,  316 

O'Dogherty,  230,  233,  236 

O'Donnell,  Brian,  priest,  178,  189 

Hugh,  52-53,  55-57,  59,  174, 

178,  179, 181,  182, 184,  186,  230- 
238,  239,  240,  241,  263,  266,  268, 
299,  304,  316,  333,  345,  351,  379, 
397,  398,  400,  404,  408-409,  444, 
449,  457,  458,  461-462  ;  defeat, 
464-465  ;  flight  to  Spain,  465- 
466,  474  ;  death,  475-476,  481 

O'Driscoll,  Sir  Finnan,  461,  471, 

473 
O'Driscolls,    the,    455,   461,   470, 

471,473,  476 
O'Ferrall,  180 
O'Flaherty,  180 
Ogilvie,  Laird  of    Pury,  27  ;  his 

mission,  203-216,  290 
O'Healy,   Archbishop    of    Tuam, 

his  mission  to  Spain,    54,    64, 

174 
O'Kelly,  180 

Olivares,  Count,  483,  486,  4S7 
O'Malley,  180 
O'More,  180 
O'Neil,  The.    See  Tyrone 

Cormack,  233,  239,  241 

Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Killaloe, 

54,  57-58,  175-176, 178,  226,318 


O'Neil,  Henry,  son  of  Tyrone,  402 

John,  son  of  Tyrone,  402-476 

Macwilliam,  233 

O'Reilly,  179 

Ormonde,  Earl  of,  269,  299,  305, 

398 
O'Rourke,  Brian,  senior,  53,  59-60 

Brian,  53,  59,  174,  178,  I79, 

180,  181,183,233,241,268,446, 

443,  473 

O'Sullevan,  Philippus,  463,  472 

O'Sullivan  Beare,  457,  461,  462, 
470,  471-473 

Sir  Owen,  457 

Oviedo,  Mateo  de,  Spanish  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin,  400-402,416, 

447,  449,  456 
Owen,  Hugh,  87,  97,  loi,  106,  107, 

109,  159,  207,  218 
Richard,  envoy  of  Tyrone, 

408,  446 

Paez  de  Clavijo,  Spanish  cap- 
tain of  Rincorran,  460 

Pagets,  the,  14,  95,  158,  159,  160, 
166,   209,   215,   218,   283,  284, 

330,  363 

Parker,  Sir  Nicholas,  293 

Parliament  of  1 593,  33  et  seq. 

Parma,  Duke  of  (Ranuccio),  276- 
277,  485 

Parry,  Dr.,  88 

Parsons,  Robert.     See  Persons 

Peace  negotiations  with  Spain, 
423-428 

Pembroke,  Earl  of,  375 

Perez,  Antonio,  89,  104-105,  106, 
109,  131,  152,  169 

Persons  (or  Parsons),  Father 
Robert,  11,  13,  41-46,  85,  91, 
95,  III,  165,  167,  204,  214-216, 
217-225,  273,  287, 290,  314,  327, 
382,  411-417,420,428,478-479, 
484,  488,  497 


INDEX 


517 


Persons,  Father,  hiabookon  the  suc- 
cession, 32,  166,  204,  221,  411 
Pew,  conspirator,  154 
Phellips,  Thomas,  spy-master,  96, 

97 
Philip    II.,    his    policy    towards 
England,   6-10,    14-16,    1S-19, 
23,  162-165,  168,  199,  217,  258, 

259,  273.  30i>  330 

his    attitude   towards    the 

Scots  Catholics,  36,  40-47,  49, 
66-79,  201-216 

his  action  in  Ireland,  50-51, 

60-61,  64,  171-176,  177-186 

III.,  366,  367,  403,  405-407, 

465,478,481,485,490 

Pierce,  Di-.,  English  refugee,  218, 
220 

Plots  to  assassinate  Elizabeth,  88, 
9c^96,  97,  112,  1 1 5-1 52,  153- 
164,  317-325 

Political  parties  in  England  {i.e. 
Cecil  and  Essex),  32-35,  37,  61, 
89-90,  113,  131,  I42-I43>  161, 
169,  195,  243-244,  278,  279,  281, 
293,  297,  302,  3io-3">  317-3251 
359-364,  375-377.394-395,421, 
431  ^assnri,  491,  508-509 

Polwhele's  confessions,  101-106, 
109 

Porres,  Spaniard,  sent  to  Scotland, 
47-48,  49,  64,  65,  66,  73-74 

Portalegre,  Count,  fears  of  an  Eng- 
lish attack,  188,  193 

Presbyterians  in  Scotland,  26,  65, 
75,  203-205 

Puckering,  Lord  Keeper,  33,  34, 
99-100 

Puritans,  the,  10,  18,  33,  37,  311, 
382 

Ralegh,  Sir  W.,  20,  36-37,  195- 
198,  243,  245,  246-247, 248,  249, 
292, 317,  342,  347,  360,  365,  374, 


396,413,424,431-432,  492-493, 
507,  508 

Randall,  "William.  46-48 

Raphoe,  Bishop  of,  233 

Revenge,  the,  21,  197 

Rincorran,  Castle  of.   See  Kinsalo. 

Rivers,  P'ather,  497,  502 

Rolls,  his  plot  to  murder  Eliza- 
beth, 319-325 

Rome,  English  College  at,  11,  85, 
411 

Russell,  Lord-Deputy,  175,  177, 
182,  231,232,  239,240,  265 

Saavedra,    Captain,    commands 

Dunboy,  471 
Scottish  Catholics,  14,  23-33,  3^, 

40-48,  64-66,  67-69,  70-79, 171, 

20 1  -204,  205-2 1 6,  3 1 0-3 1 4, 4 1 7- 

420,  481,  490 

rebels,  67-69-79,  417,  490 

Secular   priests,  English,    14,  85, 

271-273,314-315,  324-327 
Seminary  priests,  11,26,  41,  47-82, 

85,  86,  88-96 
Semple,  Colonel,  32,  76,  382,  467 

Lord,    Scottish     envoy    to 

Spain,  383,  388,  410 

Matthew,  sent  to  Spain,  76- 

79,  201 

Sessa,  Duke  of,  201-202,  210-214, 

411-413,  420,421,479,488 
Sherwood,  Father,  loi,  102,  106, 

277 
Shrewsbury,  Countess  of,  277,  502 
Dowager   Countess   of,    275, 

277,  498,  502,  503,  504 

Earl  of,  375,  498,  502 

Sidney,  Sir  Robert,  245 
Slatimor,  J.,  sent  to  Ireland,  63 
Smyth,  Sheriff  of  London,  432-434 
Southampton,  Earl  of,  340,  343, 

347,   393-395,   431  ;    >iis   trial, 

435-437 


5i8 


INDEX 


Spain,  real  source  of  its  power, 
1-3;  exhaustion  of,  5,  6,  62,  170- 
171,  189,  193-200,  250-254,  263, 
295.  33h  379,  408,  483 
Spaniards  land  in  Cornwall,  171 
Spanish,  expeditions  to  Ireland, 
182,  183-184,227-229,230-238, 
266,  346,  379,  400-410,  445, 
450-477 

plans    of    invasion,    37-39, 

42,  217,  220-229,  245,  250-263, 
288-296,  316, 370-378, 383-390, 
403-409,  453-469,  487 

navy,  efforts  to  renew,  20, 

22,  36,  250-256 

Spinola,  Ambrosio,  to  lend  money 
to  attack  England,  489 

Squire,  his  plot  to  murder  Eliza- 
beth, 319-325 

Stafford,  88 

Stanley,  John,  conspirator,  317- 

325 
Sir  W.,  37,  44,  46,  54, 87,  88, 

97,  loi,  102,  109,  154-155,  158, 
218,  274,  275,  382,  408 

Stapleton,  502 

Dr.,  167,  219,  220 

Starkey,  Arabella  Stuart's  chap- 
lain, 498,  501 

Sterrel,  spy,  97,  103,  221,  275,  276 

Stillington,  Dr.,  87 

Stuart,  Patrick,  Scottish  envoy  to 
the  Pope,  419 

Throgmokton,  Thomas,  158-159, 

204 
Tichborne,     Henry,     Ids     Jesuit 

treatise,  287 
Tinoco  (Manuel   Luis),    134-135, 

138,  152 
Treherne,  English  refugee,  218 
Trentine  Decrees,  10 
Tresham,   Captain,   14,   159,  218, 

363 


Tyrie,  Father,  Jesuit,  213 
Tyrone,  Earl  of,  52,  61,  170,  174  ; 
passion,  230-238,  239,  240,  263- 
270,  298-309,  313-314,  316,  333, 
344-356,  366,  379,  389,  392,  393, 
397,  398,  400-410,  444-449,  457, 
458,  464 ;  defeat  at  Kinsale,  465- 

473,  474,  475,  476 
Tyrrell,  Captain,  in  Dunboy,  471 
Tuam,  Archbishop  of.  See  O'Healy 

Udal,  Ralph,  priest,  327 
Unton,  Sir  H.,  mission  to  France, 
191 

Vaison,  Bishop  of.    See  Chisholm 
Valdes,  Don  Pedro  de,  39 
Valladolid,  English  College  at,  41, 

47,  87,411 
Vere,  Sir  Francis,  197,  244,  246, 

374 
Verreyken,  Flemish  peace  envoy, 

423 
Vervins,  peace  of,  297 

Walpole,  Father  Henry,  1 01, 107; 
his  arrest  and  confession,  110- 
112 

Father  Richard,  alleged  com- 
plicity in  murder  plot,  317-325 

Warford,  priest,  91 

"Watson,  Father,  315,  363,  411, 
508 

Webster,  English  recusant,  con- 
fessions of,  97-99 

"Westmorland,  Earl  of,  44,  285 

Weston,  Father,  272,  314,  325 

"White  Knight,  the,  332,  45 1 

Wight,  Isle  of,  to  be  ceded  to 
Spain,  488 

"Williams,  Richard,  conspiracy  of, 
154-161 

"Wilmot,  Sir  Charles,  454 


INDEX 


519 


Wisbech  Castle,  86,  166,  314,  323, 

325 

Stirs,  272 

Wood,    James,     of     Bonnington, 

Papal     envoy      to      Scotland, 

380 
Worcester,  Earl  of,  275,  375,  414, 

485.  495 
Worthington,  Dr.,  154,  158,   159, 
160,  218,  220 


YoRKE,  Edmund,  conspiracy  of, 
153-161 

Young,  Father  (Dingley),  con- 
fessions of,  90-96 

Henry,  conspirator,  1 54-161 

ZuBiAUU,  Pedro  de  (Admiral), 
453-454,  460,  461,  462,  463,  465 

Zuiiiga,  Spanish  ambassador,  425- 
427,  485 


THE    END 


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